jan 11 clayton_pioneer_2013

Ouimet Brothers FuneralHome spent the New Year’sholiday boarding up and mop-ping up after a car crashed intothe front of the building duringa funeral service on Dec. 30.

Mourners were seated insidethe chapel for a 1 p.m. funeraland the lobby was fortunatelyempty when an out-of-control1974 Chevrolet Nova careenedacross the sidewalk and crashedinto the front entrance at 4125Clayton Road. A 66-year-oldman who was inside the chapelsuffered a broken leg and the16-year-old driver and his pas-

senger were taken to local hos-pitals with serious injuries.

Witnesses say the driver ofthe Nova was racing with anoth-er teen on Clayton Road whenhe lost control. Ouimet Manag-ing Partner Michael Nicosia saidthe Nova hit the building sohard that the car’s battery wasejected and thrown to the southside of the building.

The crash was “unbeliev-able,” said Nicosia. “It so easilycould have been a real catastro-phe, but thankfully no one waskilled and the building can befixed.”

Although the crash caused

Michael Dunn, the popularphotographer for the ClaytonPioneer and local blogClaycord.com, died in his sleepChristmas Day after a year-longbattle against liver cancer.

Dunn, widely known in thearea as “Radar,” had an uncanny

ability to be first on the scene ofbreaking news. A slideshow ofhis best work for Claycord.comwith comments by the editor isposted at that website.

Dunn, 59, was born March27, 1953 in Oakland. He wasraised in the Concord area andgraduated from Clayton Valley

Many local officials and resi-dents are steaming about plansto close Clayton’s only fire sta-tion on Jan. 15, one of fourContra Costa Fire ProtectionDistrict stations in central Con-tra Costa County slated to be

shuttered this year to cut costs.The closures and subsequent

firefighter layoffs will slice $3million a year from its $102.4million annual budget, accordingto CCFPD Chief Daryl Lauder,and are a result of the failure inthe November election of Mea-sure Q, a $75 per year parcel tax.

“This is very frustrating, and

poses possible safety risks for ourcommunity,” Clayton Mayor JuliePierce says. “We built this stationso that it would provide adequatefire protection to Clayton, includ-ing up the hill into Oakhurst.Now, that will be impacted, andresponse times will increase.”

Station 11, on Center Street,won’t be completely unmanned,

as firefighters from nearby Sta-tion 22 in Crystyl Ranch willstaff it from 2 to 8 p.m. Mondaythrough Saturday.

Lauder acknowledges that theclosures of Station 11 and otherstations will reduce service in thearea, but hopes that the district’splan to “allocate resources” fromother stations and local agencies

will help alleviate any delays inresponse times.

Still, Pierce says that even afive-minute delay in an emer-gency can be disastrous. “Even iffirefighters are stationed in Clay-ton, they may be called upon torespond to fires and other

Sentencing for JosephMedrano has been continueduntil Friday, Jan. 11. This is thethird postponement for theformer city councilman andinsurance broker who was con-victed of felony embezzlementin San Mateo County on Oct.11 and first set for sentencingon Dec. 12.

The Dec. 12sentencing wasc o n t i n u e dbecause Medra-no’s attorney,Kenneth Moyal,was late, leavingJudge JonathanKaresh less thanhalf an hour to

hear arguments from both theprosecution and the defense.Karesh continued that hearing

until Dec. 31.Medrano is represented by

two Concord attorneys, MattOliveri and Kenneth Moyal.

On Dec. 21, Oliveri askedfor a postponement of the Dec.31 date because of a conflictwith holiday plans. According tothe DA’s office, Oliveri said acourt clerk told him on Dec. 27that the continuance was denied,but that the date had been“vacated,” a court term meaning

removed from the calendar.Oliveri told Medrano the

hearing date would be reset, soMedrano turned off his cellphone and left town for a longweekend. On Friday, Dec. 28,the judge’s office notified Oliv-eri that the sentencing was stillon the calendar for Monday. Butby that time Medrano was goneand Oliveri was unable to

Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Club News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Community Calendar . . . . . .14

CVHS Reporter . . . . . . . . . . .9

Design and Décor . . . . . . . .14

Directory of Advertisers . . . . .5

DVMS Reporter . . . . . . . . . . .9

Fashion Over 50 . . . . . . . . .15

Fitness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Garden Girl . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Letter to the Editor . . . . . . . . .6

Obituary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Mind Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Police Activity Report . . . . . . .7

Protect and Serve . . . . . . . . .7

Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Sports Shorts . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Teen Speak . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Weather Words . . . . . . . . . . .8

What’s Inside

PRSRTSTD

US POSTAGE

PAID

CLAYTON, CA

PERMIT190

Our police department isfinally back to full staff. Wel-come to our newest police offi-cer, Andre Charles, and to ournew Community Services Offi-cer, Sandy Johnson. We alsowelcome Jessica Boscacci as ournew administrative assistant andCode Enforcement Officer,replacing retiring Rita Howe.

After five years with Clay-ton, our Community Develop-ment Director, David Wolter-ing, has accepted a similar posi-tion with the City of SanBruno. He has done a mar-velous job providing leadershipand expertise on land use,planning and housing. Histhoughtful and methodicalapproach to community plan-ning will be difficult to replace.While we wish him well, he willbe sorely missed at city hall.

JULIE PIERCE

MAYOR’S CORNER

More comings and goingsat Clayton City Hall

See Mayor, page 6

See Mike Dunn, page 2

See Medrano, page 6

See Ouimet, page 3

See Station 11, page 7

Burning questions remain afterCCFPD closes Clayton’s Station ll

TAMARA STEINER

Clayton Pioneer

TAMARA STEINER

Clayton Pioneer

TAMARA STEINER

Clayton Pioneer

PEGGY SPEAR

Clayton Pioneer

www.claytonpioneer.com January 11, 2013 925.672.0500

IT’S YOUR PAPER

Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer

CLAYTON’S ONLY FIRE STATION WILL CLOSE ON JAN. 15. The station is one of four to go dark this year for lack of money. CCFPD chief Daryl Lauder will meetwith city officials and residents on January 23 at 7 p.m. at the Clayton Library to address the closure and its impact on local emergency services.

Medrano sentencing postponed for third time

PHOTOGRAPHER MIKE “RADAR” DUNN at the Clayton Valley vs.Concord High “Claycord Cup” game in November 2012.

Community mournsloss of “Radar”

Teen driver crashes into funeral home

Photo credit: Claycord.com

A 16-YEAR-OLD DRIVER WHO WITNESSES SAY WAS RACING withanother teen on Dec. 30 lost control of his 1974 Nova andcrashed into the front of the Ouimet Brothers Funeral Home.The crash sent three people to the hospital.

JOEMEDRANO

Many of the area’s clubs were verybusy over the holidays and were eagerto share the spirit of the season.

The Clayton Valley Woman’sClub donated non-perishable foodgoods to SHARE Food Pantry attheir annual winter luncheon. RonHannan, director of SHARE, saidSHARE is the oldest independent,ecumenical, nonprofit organizationthat operates as an emergency foodpantry in Central Contra CostaCounty. It was established in 1986 byThomas Boyd, husband of clubmember Shirley Boyd, and continuesto provide food items to 1200 peoplemonthly. This year, many people arein need of food and donations aredown.

The Ygnacio Valley RepublicanWomen donated 50 toys to the Toysfor Tots program with the UnitedStates Marine Corps at the club’sChristmas party.

Boy Scout Troop 444 donatedtoys to the Bay Area Crisis Nursery.AJ Visaya and his little sister (andDaisy Scout) Jasmine Bell wiselyspent a $50 gift card on gifts todonate. Julian Rike coordinated andcollected gifts along with his fellowscouts Patrick Murray and AJ. Over400 families were in need this year,according to nursery staff memberLisa Heimbruch. These scouts wereable to insure that many of thosefamilies had gifts for their children.

Cub Scout Pack 444 collectedand donated toys to Children’s Hos-pital Outpatient Surgery and Diag-nostic Imaging Center in WalnutCreek. The toys were not just forchildren during the holiday season,but for children throughout the yearto help comfort and reward them forbeing brave during their medical pro-cedures at the center.

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Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com January 11, 2013

Mike Dunnfrom page 1

JULIAN RIKE, AJ VISAYA AND PATRICK MURRAY OF BOY SCOUT TROOP 444 presenttheir donations to Lisa Heimbruch of the Bay Area Crisis Nursery.

TIGER SCOUTS FROM CUB SCOUT TROOP

444 learn about procedures per-formed at Children’s HospitalOutpatient Surgery and DiagnosticImaging Center in Walnut Creekafter bringing in their toy donations.

THE UNITED STATES MARINES PICK UP THE TOYS FOR TOTS donations from ElaineStephenson, 2012 Ygnacio Valley Republican Women president and Terri DiLoreto, fundraising chairman.

RON HANNAN OF SHARE acceptsdonations from Clayton ValleyWoman’s Club Co-Presidents PriscillaManlove and Becky Hanson.

Club News

High School in 1971. Heattended Los Medanos Col-lege where he studied graphicarts and journalism. He was afamiliar face around theCVCHS campus where hephotographed reunions, stu-dent activities and sportingevents and was on assignmentthere for the Pioneer onDecember 19 when he col-lapsed and was taken to thehospital by ambulance. Hedied a few days later.

A 5 p.m. visitation plannedat Ouimet Brothers FuneralChapel in Concord on Dec. 30was abruptly relocated to theConcord Salvation Armychurch across the street after acar crashed at high-speed intothe front of the building dur-ing an earlier service. Theirony of the timing did notescape his friends.

“As always, Radar was firston the scene,” commentedPioneer staffer Pam Wiesen-danger.

Dunn has been a part ofthe press world for most ofhis life, logging stints at theContra Costa Times, The Concor-dian and Patch.com in additionto photographing for thePioneer and Claycord.com.

He is survived by his sisterPaula Barrett of VancouverWashington, a niece in Occi-dental California and anephew in Washington.

Plans are underway for amemorial service later in themonth. Details will be postedon claytonpioneer.com andclaycord.com.

Just weeks after his releasefrom San Quentin Prison, Vin-cent Russo was sitting around thefireplace with Collette Carrolland Gaylynn LaVenture, plan-ning the next steps in a history-making endeavor with ClaytonValley/ Concord Sunrise RotaryClub to open a Thrift Boutique.The club will partner with thesuccessful California Re-entryInstitute (CRI), headed by Car-roll, which helps former inmatesfind jobs and success outside ofprison walls.

The shop will provide fundsto assist men in successful transi-tion from incarceration to socie-ty through jobs, a reentry facility,employment for at-risk youth,and to assist Rotary with theirother projects. LaVenture will bethe store manager for the as-yetundecided location. “We’re look-ing in Concord near public trans-portation, especially BART,”Carroll said. The shop will openas soon as they find workablespace.

The Sunrise Rotary’s thriftstore is just a part of CRI’svision to build an integratedand supportive service networkcomprised of community-based organizations, govern-ment and public agencies andthe broader community for thesuccess of formerly incarcerat-ed individuals back into thecommunity. Specially chosenparticipants complete a two-year process prior to release inconjunction with multiple othertherapeutic programs availableduring incarceration.

Russo is perhaps the posterchild for CRI, and was even theinstitute’s “Executive Instructor”

when he was still behind bars. Heknows how difficult it is formany former inmates to reinte-grate into society, and has seenmany of his former fellowinmates fall back into the revolv-ing door of the prison system.

Russo said he is eager toemploy the same type of serviceand support to recent paroleesthat he was so successful withamong inmates at San Quentin.

“He’s just amazing,” says CRIPresident and Executive DirectorCollette Carroll, offering up alaundry list of Russo’s accom-plishments and service work.“All these (CRI) guys have donehard work on themselves.”

CRI participants have 0 per-cent recidivism, which meansnobody who has gone through

the program has gone back tojail.

The Thrift Boutique will pro-vide employment to participants,many of them highly skilledcraftsmen who will also be ableto sell their work.

ROTARY WAS INSPIRED

Mureleen Benton, presidentof Clayton Valley/Concord Sun-rise Rotary, was inspired to joinforces with CRI after meetingseveral “ex-cons” who softenedher heart by breaking stereotypeswith their inspired stories. Ben-ton invited CRI to speak at aRotary meeting, which led to thispartnership, she said.

The boutique will assist at-risk youth with work to keepthem off the streets, build self-

worth and a sense of accom-plishment and learn life skillsthrough CRI’s Sharing the Truthwith Youth program. “The youthaspect is really important to me,”said Benton. “I don’t have whatthese guys have to make a con-nection that will make a differ-ence. A former offender can takeaway the glamour of what kids inour community think prison is. Ifwe can save just one, if everyClub could save just one, think ofthe difference that would make.”

Sunrise Rotary has earmarkedfunds and started a collectiondrive for high-end, gently used orbrand-new women’s, men’s andchildren’s clothing and acces-sories for the Thrift Boutique aswell as provide business advice ifneeded; the Rotary District is on

track to contribute financiallylater this year.

Carroll and her late husbandRoland Peck were founders andran of one of the largest self-help programs in San Quentinfor ten years. CRI was foundedin 2008 when Carroll and busi-ness partner Sam Vaughn real-ized the need to take the life-changing movement furthertowards helping the men reentersociety. Carroll and Peck oftenfunded the fledgling efforts outof their own pockets.

“This is all from God,” saidCarroll. “Ideas pop into my head;I used to yell to Roland from theshower, ‘Write this down!’”

UNEMPLOYMENT HIGH FOR

FORMER INMATES

The cards are stacked againstan ex-offender upon release. For-merly incarcerated people experi-ence extraordinarily high rates ofunemployment, with researchindicating unemployment amongCalifornia parolees after one yearcan be as high as 90 percent. For-merly incarcerated people fre-quently face tremendous barriersin obtaining employment, includ-ing employer discrimination, lackof job history, skills, and educa-tion. However, employment iscritical to successfully reintegrat-ing into the community afterincarceration.

Down the line, through pro-ceeds from the Thrift Boutique,CRI will open a house availableto their men during reentrythrough reintegration. Russo isslated to use his abundant experi-ence, education and training asHouse Manager. “Once a CRI,always a CRI,” Carroll and Russosaid.

It is estimated that the countywill need 1,241-2,069 housing

placements to meet the needs ofthe reentry population. Many willseek housing with family orfriends and others will be left tofind housing on their own. Vari-ous laws restrict parolees housingoptions; certain convictions canprevent people from living incertain neighborhoods or in cer-tain types of housing (e.g., publichousing). Consequently, thecounty must provide the neces-sary resources to make sure allthose reentering will not becomehomeless.

CRI’s vision and five-stepprocess toward reintegration is ahighly successful, groundbreak-ing endeavor.

Donate items to Sunrise RotaryClub or contact CRI at 925-549-1416 or by email at [email protected].

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Sunrise Rotary’s new thrift store to help ex-inmates

Nicci Shipstead

VINCENT RUSSO (RIGHT) ENJOYS COMPANY AROUND THE FIREPLACE discussing bright dreams for thefuture during his first holiday after release from San Quentin State Prison. GaylynnLaVenture, left, and Collette Carroll, center and Russo of California Reentry Institute begin ahistory-making endeavor with Clayton Valley/Concord Sunrise Rotary Club to open a ThriftBoutique in Concord serving individuals reentering and reintegrating into the communityafter incarceration with employment opportunities, fundraising, at-risk youth programs, socialnetworking and housing.

NICCI SHIPSTEAD

Clayton Pioneer

Ouimet, from page 1

an estimated $50,000 damageand the entrance is boarded up,Nicosia said other churches andfuneral homes have stepped upto offer their facilities whilerepairs are underway.

A visitation and viewing forClayton Pioneer photographerMichael Dunn, scheduled for 5p.m. that day, was quickly relo-cated to the Salvation Armychapel across the street.

“The community has beenright there for us,” he said.

Nicosia says the repairs willtake about three weeks.

The latest new face to jointhe Clayton PD loves smalltowns and hates two lane roads.

Andre Charles, 51, a retireefrom the Contra Costa Sheriff’sDepartment says although he is“chicken” when it comes tocommuting on Marsh CreekRoad from his home in Brent-wood, he’s not the least bit afraidof new challenges.

Charles spent 25 years withthe Sheriff’s Department andwas outgoing police chief DanLawrence’s last hire before retir-ing. He got a taste of small townlaw enforcement when he spentseveral years in Orinda, a smalltown with a population of18,000 and a police departmentabout the same size as Clayton’s.

Charles says his greatestinterest is in investigations. “I’vebeen told I’m pretty good at it,”he said. His most memorablecase was one several years ago inOrinda that started out with theaccidental death of a teen andended up with the arrest of thekingpin of a fake identificationcard ring.

Charles grew up in AlamedaCounty where he graduated fromCastlemont High School in Oak-land. He went on to the policeacademy at Napa CommunityCollege before joining the Sher-iff’s Department.

He lives in Brentwood withhis wife Karis and their two chil-dren, a daughter 7 and a son 19.When not on the job, he loveshanging out with his family andworking on his vintage ’66Chevrolet Caprice.

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KARIS CHARLES PINS HIS BADGE ON HUSBAND ANDRE, the newestaddition to the Clayton Police Department. Charles was swornin by City Clerk Laci Jackson on Jan 2 at City Hall.

Latest hire brings ClaytonPolice Dept. to full staff

How do you program a robotto get through a maze? How doyou create websites? How do youcreate cool computer-generatedgraphic designs?

Questions such as these willbe discussed by local high schoolstudents beginning Sunday, Jan.13 as part of a free, weekly “intro-duction to computer science”club that will meet at the ClaytonCommunity Library.

Local high school studentswill have a chance to learn aboutcomputer science before ClaytonValley Charter High School offi-cially offers a course in the sub-ject. Clayton resident Mike Fine, a25+ year veteran of the technolo-gy industry (Oracle, Informatica,and several dot-com startups) anda member of the Curriculum andInstruction Committee atCVCHS, will lead the group.

“I learned how to program ineighth grade, when my school gotits first computer and was instant-ly hooked,” Fine says. “I got myfirst paying programming jobwhen I was 14. I want to share mypassion and enthusiasm I have forthe subject with today’s students.”

We live in an increasingly tech-nological world and knowing howcomputer software works will becritical to success in the 21st cen-tury. Even students who do notintend to be “computer program-mers” will still benefit from anunderstanding of how computersoftware works. And, on top ofall that, the topic is fun, interest-ing and challenging.

The group will meet Sundays from1-2:30 p.m. in the Clayton CommunityLibrary Story Room, beginning Jan.13. Contact [email protected] more information.

Computer ScienceClub helps teens click

WANTEDWanted: working partnerfor local trade exchange(barter). Sales experience andinvestment required. Learn thislucrative business.www.barterbucksbanc.com.Debbie 524-0710.

Come join Mazzei Realty!Currently interviewing and hir-ing new and experienced realestate agents. Call 693-0757for details.

Real Estate AgentsBe Successful! Lynne Frenchis expanding and interviewingfor a few agents. Call hertoday 672-8787.

VOLUNTEERSNEEDED

Help Fight HungerAnna Chan – AKA: TheLemon Lady needs your help!Weekly commitment appreci-ated. For more info and con-tact numbers, go to thelemon-lady.blogspot.com.

Hospice of the East Bay Help needed at Hospice of theEast Bay Concord ThriftShoppe located at 5350Clayton Road, Concord. 674-9072. For information contactCarmen Siems, volunteer coor-dinator at 887-5678 or [email protected].

Clayton Historical SocietyMuseumThe Clayton Historical Societyneeds a greeter for two hoursper month from 2-4 p.m.Wednesdays or Sundays. Callthe museum at 672-0240 andleave your name.

Clayton Community LibraryNeeds volunteers. Minimumage 13. Minimum commitmentis 6 months. Some trainingprovided. Contact: Arlene at673-9777 [email protected].

P.O. Box 12466200 Center Street, Suite H, Clayton, CA 94517

TAMARA AND ROBERT STEINER, PublishersTAMARA STEINER, EditorPETE CRUZ, Graphic DesignPEGGY SPEAR, Copy Editor JAY BEDECARRÉ, Sports PAMELA WIESENDANGER, Administration

STAFF WRITERS: Denisen Hartlove, Nicci Shipstead, PamWiesendanger, Mike Dunn

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Construction and TradesAppliance Repairs by Bruce, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-2700

Belfast Plumbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .457-5423

Burkin Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672-1519

Cheyenne Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .566-8226

Diablo View Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .822-5144

Iron Horse Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .595-3951

RS Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .408-2818

Steffan Smith Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .914-0497

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Dining and Entertainment Clayton Club Saloon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .673-0440

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Oakhurst Country Club . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-9737, ext. 205

Financial and Insurance Services Held, Chris - Morgan Stanley Smith Barney . . . .930-3815

Littorno, Richard - Attorney at Law . . . . . . . . . . . .432-4211

Miller, Tom - CPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .354-1385

Prosperitas Wealth Management . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-7700

Van Wyck, Doug - State Farm Insurance . . . . . . .672-2300

FuneralsOuimet Funeral Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .682-4242

Home and Garden Abbey Carpet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .686-9901

Clear Splash Pool Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .216-6245

Diablo Lawnscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .381-3757

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Waraner Tree Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250-0334

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Pet ServicesMonte Vista Veterinary Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-1100

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Real Estate and Mortgage Services French, Lynne - Windermere Real Estate . . . . . .672-8787

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Recreation and FitnessClayton Valley Bowl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .689-4631

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Services, Other Computers USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672-9989

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Directory of Advertisers

PIONEER INFOCONTACT USTel: (925) 672-0500Fax: (925) 672-6580

Tamara [email protected]

Send ads [email protected]

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Send Church News [email protected]

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Send Classified Ads [email protected]

CLASSIFIEDSClassified rates per insertion:$48 for first 30 words, $.40 each

additional wordNon-profit: $24 for first 30

words, $.20 each additionalword

To place your classified ad over thephone, call the office at (925) 672-0500 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.Mon.-Fri. Or, you may fax your type-written ad and credit card informa-tion to (925) 672-6580. All classifiedsmust be paid for in advance by creditcard (Master Card or Visa)

We will not accept any ad that dis-criminates on the basis of race, color,sex, religion, nationality, family statusor disability. The Clayton Pioneer

reserves the right to reject any adver-tising we believe is unsuitable.

LET US KNOWWeddings, engagements, anniver-

saries, births and deaths all weavetogether as part of the fabric of ourcommunity. Please let us know ofthese important events. We ask onlythat the announcement be for a Clay-ton resident. You will find the appro-priate form for your announcementon our Website. Attach your photo tothe form. Make sure the image sizeyou are about to send is at least 3 MBbut not bigger than 6MB. The onlyformat we accept is JPG. You can alsomail or bring your print to the officeand we can scan it for you.

Also on our Website are formsfor submitting Community Calendaritems and press releases for yourorganization.

LETTERS TO THE EDITORThe Clayton Pioneer welcomes

letters from our readers. As a generalrule, letters should be 250 words orless and submitted at least one weekprior to publication date. Letters con-cerning current issues will have prior-ity. We may edit letters for length andclarity. All letters will be published atthe editor’s discretion.

Please include your name, addressand daytime telephone number. Wewill not print letters from “anony-mous.”

E-mail your letter in a Worddocument to [email protected]. Letters MUST be sub-mitted via E-mail.


Classified

Steven Scott of Concord,better known as ”Scotty,” diedon December 14 at Kaiser Hos-pital in Walnut Creek.

Scotty was born in LosAngeles on April 29, 1929. Hespent his early years there andattended University HighSchool.

He served in the U.S. MarineCorps from 1945 until 1947,during which time he servedaboard the USS Curtiss duringOperation Sandstone. After hishonorable discharge, hereturned to Los Angeles andattended Occidental College,where he majored in geology.He worked as a mining geologistfor 39 years, most recently forKaiser Steel Corp. in Oakland.

Scotty was a dedicated fatherand husband who enjoyed amyriad of activities in hisyounger days, including fishing,boating, water skiing, andexploring the remote reaches ofthe landscape as dictated by hiscareer as a geologist — or rockhound, as he liked to say. Heenjoyed games of cards andcould always be counted on toparticipate in trivia or otherboard games with family andfriends.

Later in life he took up golf,and enjoyed regular rounds at

Diablo Creek and other localcourses, often accompanied byhis wife Neva. He loved animalsand was always a good compan-ion to the family’s pets over theyears. He was preceded in deathby his wife of 50 years, NevaGail and daughter Janine MarieCoons.

He is survived by daughterLaurie Gail Dyke of Marietta,Georgia, son Stanley LockenScott of Chico, Calif. and sonSteven Ross Scott of Concord;grandchildren Robert and LisaArnold, Rachel and Alicia Scott,Jessica, Ashley and StephanieDyke; and great grandchildrenCadence and Sariana Arnold.

Obituary

Steven ScottApril 29, 1929 – December 14, 2012

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Harrison Scott of Concord,better known as ”Scotty,” diedon December 14 at Kaiser Hos-pital in Walnut Creek.

Scotty was born in LosAngeles on April 29, 1929. Hespent his early years there andattended University HighSchool.

He served in the U.S. MarineCorps from 1945 until 1947,during which time he servedaboard the USS Curtiss duringOperation Sandstone. After hishonorable discharge, hereturned to Los Angeles andattended Occidental College,where he majored in geology.He worked as a mining geologistfor 39 years, most recently forKaiser Steel Corp. in Oakland.

Scotty was a dedicated fatherand husband who enjoyed amyriad of activities in hisyounger days, including fishing,boating, water skiing, andexploring the remote reaches ofthe landscape as dictated by hiscareer as a geologist — or rockhound, as he liked to say. Heenjoyed games of cards andcould always be counted on toparticipate in trivia or otherboard games with family andfriends.

Later in life he took up golf,and enjoyed regular rounds at

Diablo Creek and other localcourses, often accompanied byhis wife Neva. He loved animalsand was always a good compan-ion to the family’s pets over theyears. He was preceded in deathby his wife of 50 years, NevaGail and daughter Janine MarieCoons.

He is survived by daughterLaurie Gail Dyke of Marietta,Georgia, son Stanley LockenScott of Chico, Calif. and sonSteven Ross Scott of Concord;grandchildren Robert and LisaArnold, Rachel and Alicia Scott,Jessica, Ashley and StephanieDyke; and great grandchildrenCadence and Sariana Arnold.

Obituary

Harrison ScottApril 29, 1929 – December 14, 2012

Q. We are in the middle ofa short sale. A tax forgivenessmeasure was supposed toexpire on December 31, 2012.Did it expire? If so, I heard Iwill be taxed on the forgivenamount as ordinary income.If this is the case should I letthe bank foreclose instead?

Would I be taxed on the for-given amount in a foreclo-sure?

A. The measure you arereferring to is called the “Mort-gage Forgiveness Debt ReliefAct of 2007.” This measurecould pertain to short sales,foreclosures, deeds in lieu of aforeclosure or modifications.Your tax professional woulddetermine how this would affectyou in each situation. Techni-cally it did expire for 24 hoursbut then was extended for oneyear. I have no idea if it will beextended again. So you seem to

be safe for now, but please con-fer with your tax professional.

Industry experts expectedthe bill to be extended. It hadbipartisan support in the Houseand the Senate. Congress didn’tseem to feel it was a high priori-ty within the “fiscal cliff ” nego-tiations so the extension actual-ly was allowed to expire briefly,causing much anxiety for peoplelike you. The National Associa-tion of Realtors and others lob-bied hard to keep it in the fore-front. Forty-one state attorneysgeneral appealed to the Houseand Senate for the extension.

Not to extend it at this pointmade no sense. It would havehurt the very people that theshort sale or loan modificationwas supposed to help. Howcould people who can’t affordtheir mortgage be able to affordthis huge tax bill?

Some homeowners who arepaying their mortgages on timehave suggested this tax forgive-ness is unfair to them. Perhaps itis, but anything that will helpkeep the housing marketimproving is good for the econ-omy.

Q. Our swimming pool isabout 30 years old. It coulduse a facelift. We don’t use itmuch anymore and are con-sidering filling it in andmaybe planting a lawn thereversus replastering. Howwould these alternativesaffect our property value? Wemight sell our home in five to

10 years.A. A sparkling, inviting pool

can add value to your property.If it is not spectacular anappraiser won’t add much valuefor it. Many buyers definitelywant a house with a pool. Mostof those want one that is innear-perfect shape. They mightbe willing to do some repairs,but those repairs will lower theamount they are willing to payfor the home. Then there is theother buyer who absolutelydoes not want a pool. Perhapsthey had one in the past anddon’t want to deal with theexpense and the upkeep. Andthere is a third type of buyerwho is ambivalent whether ornot there is a pool, but whowould not buy a house with apool that needs a lot of work.

How large is your lot? If thepool takes up most of the yard,it won’t be appealing to mostbuyers. People usually want theyard to be a recreation center.

What I would suggest you dois compare the cost of filling inthe pool and landscaping thearea with the cost of replaster-ing and repairing or replacinganything else that is needed.Also factor in the maintenancecost for each. If you are stillgoing to live in your house forfive to 10 years, which type ofyard would you enjoy having?Your quality of life is veryimportant.

I have noticed one truth inreal estate: If there are thingsabout your home that you value

and enjoy, it is not hard to finda buyer who will also value andenjoy your improvements.

Q. What is something newthat makes an area desirable?

A. The California Associa-tion of Realtors put out “OneCool Thing” which is the Walk-ability Index. It is a new measureof the desirability of an area.This is the proximity of ameni-ties such as restaurants andshops, and community hubssuch as schools, parks andlibraries. Walk scores range from0 to 100, and any rating above70 is considered “very walka-ble.” You can check a walk scorein a specific city or neighbor-

hood at www.walkscore.com. Iam proud to say that Claytonhas been named “Most Walka-ble City” in the past. And it hasbeen named in Money Maga-zine’s Top 100 “Best Places toLive” three times since 2007.Each time they cited the exten-sive walking trails.

Lynne French is theBroker/Owner of WindermereLynne French & Associates and aClayton resident. For any real estateneeds or questions contact her at 925-672-8787, email [email protected] or stop in at 6200 Cen-ter Street in Clayton.

Do short sellers still have tax forgiveness?

reach him before the hearing.When Oliveri showed up at theMonday morning hearing with-out his client, the judge issued ano-bail warrant for Medrano’sarrest. He recalled the warrantlater that day when Oliverireached Medrano and resched-uled the sentencing for Friday,Jan. 4.

On Thursday, Jan. 3, Oliveriand Moyal informed the judge

that they were “unavailable” forthe hearing the next day. Medra-no showed up alone in court onJan. 4, and the judge continuedthe hearing once more to Jan.11.

Medrano was convicted inOctober of stealing $159,630from a former client. The pros-ecution is asking for the maxi-mum four-year sentence, withtwo years to be served in prison.

Assistant District AttorneySharon Lee says Medrano hasshown no remorse nor madeany moves toward restitution.At the first sentencing hearing,the judge called Medrano’s state-ment asking for probation“troubling,” saying that “he stillsees himself as the innocent vic-tim.”

The defense is arguing forprobation since Medrano has noprior criminal record.

Lee says the probationdepartment has reviewed

Medrano’s statement and is alsorecommending prison time.

When the judge continuedthe first sentencing hearing toDec. 31, he told Medrano hewould not be hearing any fur-ther testimony and wouldimpose sentence on that day.Karesh told Medrano to “puthis affairs in order and be pre-pared to surrender” on Dec. 31.

For the results of Friday’s hear-ing, go to claytonpioneer.com.


Medrano, from page 1

For her stellar perform-ance, an acceptance of a vari-ety of human resources tasks,and community event organiz-ing, our city clerk/humanresources manager Laci Jack-son was honored with the 2012Outstanding Employee award,which includes her name andyear on the perpetual plaquehanging on the third floor wall

at city hall. Congrats to Lacifor the great year.

FIRE STATION CLOSURE

UPDATE MEETING

Clayton’s Fire Station 11and three others in the fire dis-trict are officially closed. Cov-erage for Clayton is now sup-plied by the crews from Sta-tion 22 located in Crystyl

Ranch. Fire district staff willbe holding an informationalmeeting on Wednesday, Jan.23, at 7 p.m. in the ClaytonCommunity Library meetingroom.

While Station 11 is amongthe first to close, the districtanticipates additional stationclosures later this year whichwill stretch limited resourcesover an even larger area. Yourcity council and staff areactively gathering information

and reviewing options toensure maximum safety forour residents. Please mark yourcalendars now, and plan toattend. Bring your questionsand concerns and hear fromthe fire district about howthese and future service cutswill impact the safety of ourcommunity.

As always, you can contact me byemail at [email protected] me know what you think.

Mayor, from page 1

Doug Van WyckCLU ChFC, AgentInsurance Lic. # 05863966200 Center St. Ste. AClayton, CA 94517925-672-2300www.dougvanwyck.com

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Home TourThe Clayton Historical

Society’s third ChristmasHome Tour, Sun., Dec. 16, wasan overwhelming success. Thefive included homes werebeautifully decorated andadmired by over 200 peoplewho took part in the tour.

The committee wishes tothank the five homeownerswho graciously opened theirhomes for the tour, the manyvolunteers who worked on theevent, and especially the manypeople who purchased tickets

to support this very importantfundraiser for the ClaytonMuseum garden. We hope tomake this an annual event andare looking for homes for nextyear’s tour. If you either have ahome or know of someonewho would be interested inbeing on the 2013 tour, pleasecontact JoAnn Caspar at 925-672-7680.

Clayton Historical Society’sChristmas Home Tour

Committee

Letter to the Editor6096 Main Street, Clayton, 673-0440

January 11, 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Plan B

January 18, 19 . . . . . . . . . . . .Desert Moon

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Entertainment from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

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2 for the price of 1Beer only. Good anytime withoriginal coupon. Exp. 1/24/13

Karaoke Mon. & Wed. nights Open Mic Thur. nights, 8-11 pm

Police Activity for threeweeks ending Jan. 3, 2013

ACCIDENTS:None.

ARRESTS:Dec. 14, 1:10 a.m. Clayton

Rd./Peacock Creek Dr. A 33-year-old Antioch male was arrested forDUI; suspended license; driving

while license suspended for DUIafter being stopped for a VehicleCode violation.

Dec. 14, 12:51 p.m. ClaytonRd./Lydia Ln. A 35-year-old Con-cord male was arrested for a sus-pended license after being stoppedfor a Vehicle Code violation.

Dec. 16, 9:53 a.m. 5400 blkClayton Rd. A 58-year-old Martinez

male was arrested for public intoxi-cation after officers responded to acall for service.

Dec. 18, 4:56 a.m. ClaytonRd./Washington Blvd. A 43-year-old Antioch male was arrested onwarrant; probation violation afterbeing contacted by officers during atraffic stop.

Dec. 20, 2:11 a.m. Pine HollowRd./Mitchell Canyon Rd. A 24-year-old Concord male was arrestedfor DUI; public intoxication; war-rant after being stopped for a Vehi-cle Code violation. A 22-year-oldmale passenger from Concord wasarrested for public intoxication. A27-year-old Clayton male passengerwas also arrested for an outstandingwarrant.

Dec. 23, 2:15 a.m. 900 blk OakSt. A 35-year-old Elk Grove malewas arrested for disturbing thepeace; public intoxication after offi-cers responded to a call for service.

Dec. 24, 9:52 p.m. 1300 blkShell Ln. A 35-year-old Claytonmale was arrested for corporalinjury to spouse/cohabitant after

officers responded to a call forservice.

Dec. 27, 1:13 a.m. ClaytonRd./Mitchell Canyon Rd. A 22-year-old Oakley female was arrest-ed for DUI; driving on suspendedlicense after being stopped for aVehicle Code violation.

Dec. 28, 12:35 a.m. ClaytonRd./Tara Dr. A 23-year-old Con-cord male was arrested for drivingon suspended license after beingstopped for a Vehicle Codeviolation.

BURGLARIES/THEFTS:Dec. 16, Mt. Everest Ct. Petty

Theft.Dec. 19, La Honda Ct. Petty

Theft.Dec. 21, Wallace Dr. Petty

Theft.Dec. 21, Clark Creek Cr. Petty

Theft.Dec. 28, Main St. Petty Theft.

VANDALISMS:Dec. 21, Kirker Pass Rd.Jan. 2, Falcon Pl.

As a young man, my fatherhad many sayings. “There’s nofree lunch” and “If it sounds toogood to be true, it is” were two ofhis favorites. Lately, there’s beenseveral “if it sounds too good tobe true…” stories in the news.

The scenario usually goes likethis. You receive a call at yourhome and a wonderfully cheerful,friendly person explains you havewon millions in a lottery, beenawarded a huge insurance claim,or a long-lost wealthy relative (oneyou never even knew you had) haspassed away, leaving you richesbeyond your belief. You need onlyto send a small check, a few hun-dred dollars, or provide a creditcard number to handle the pro-cessing and the money will beyours.

Often, the nice person says,“we were at your home thismorning and tried to drop off thecheck, but nobody was home.”They go on to describe yourhome in detail. At first you areconvinced this is a scam. But

slowly your steely resolve beginsto dwindle. You say to yourself,“this can’t be true, but what if…?”Greed begins to creep in, sudden-ly you find yourself with your wal-let in hand giving a credit cardnumber or writing a check.

These scam artists often targetelderly people. They are good atwhat they do; they’re charmingand convincing. They have ananswer for every question; eventhe most suspicious people cansometimes fall prey. Unfortunate-ly, once a person has been victim-

ized, they are often so embar-rassed they won’t call family or thepolice for help.

A few things to remember: nolegitimate business requires you togive them money so you canreceive an award. The caller wasnever at your home to drop off acheck. They viewed your houseon the Internet and are able todescribe your residence becausethey were looking at a picture of itwhen they called. The credit cardnumber or checking accountnumber you provided is probablybeing fraudulently used beforeyou even finish the call.

Often the scammer will pro-vide a call-back number so youmay contact them. The number isusually an 800 or similar number.When you call, the phone isanswered and you may even talkto a legitimate sounding secretaryor receptionist. The receptionistwill answer your questions andoften even connect you to thescammer you have been dealingwith.

Be forewarned, the numberyou’re calling is typically not in theUnited States. The scammers inthese cases are in the Bahamas,Eastern Europe or some otherforeign land. Because the suspectsare in another country, the casesare difficult, if not impossible, toinvestigate and prosecute.

Technology has brought usmany wonderful things. You canaccess the Library of Congressfrom your living room. Researchcan be conducted on any giventopic in the comfort of ourhomes. Unfortunately there arethose who use this technology forillegal purposes. This type ofscam often succeeds because thecaller has so much informationabout you it appears legitimate.The best advice I can give is theadvice my father gave me: “If itsounds too good to be true, ITIS!”

Chris Thorsen is Clayton’s chiefof police. For questions and com-ments, call him at (925) 673-7350.

emergencies in Concord, WalnutCreek and even East County,”she says. “The whole fire districtwill be spread thin.”

One of the mayor's top con-cerns, however, is that with lessemergency resources available,Clayton police officers will beasked to respond to cardiacemergencies, since they carryautomated external defibrillators(AEDs) in their vehicles.

“That is not a position wewant our officers to be in,” saysPierce, “having to chosebetween responding to a crimein progress or a medical emer-gency.”

Clayton Police Chief ChrisThorsen shares her concern.“Our role is in law enforcement,and to protect the people andproperty of Clayton,” he says.“We've never been consideredfront-line medical responders.And as great as my guys are, theycan't be two places at once. Ihope it's a choice they don't haveto make.”

Some residents and localofficials are angry that Clayton'sone station has been designatedfor closure, while Station 22 in

Crystyl Ranch is to remain open,and its firefighters used to staffStation 11. However, both Laud-er and Supervisor KarenMitchoff say that data on calls –including the time and day ofthe emergency – helped makethe decision.

“Because of the traffic onYgnacio Valley Road in the after-noons, it makes sense to havesomeone in Clayton, so theywon't have to fight the gridlock,”Lauder says.

Mitchoff says she is frustrat-ed and angry over having toclose any stations, and believesthat the public's anger of highpensions paid out in neighboringfire districts helped fuel thedefeat of Measure Q.

“People are angry, they wantpension reform,” she says. “Butour fire district is not the onethat has had those problems.And we're working hard to keepit that way.”

Local residents will have anopportunity to hear details ofthe fire district's plan at a 7 p.m.meeting on Jan. 23, in theLibrary Community Room.

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Meteorologists spend count-less hours looking at weather data.In January most of our datacrunching revolves around analyz-ing the previous year’s data andmaking comparisons to normalvalues.

So how do we define normal?The National Weather Service(NWS) has defined climate nor-mals of temperature and precipi-tation based on 30-year averagesthat are updated after the end ofeach decade. The most recent cli-mate normal period includes datafrom the years 1981-2010.

In previous years, calculatingcomparisons to 30-year normalsfor the Clayton area has beenalmost impossible to do because aweather station representative ofour little corner of the planet didnot exist. The closest long-term

weather station, Mt. Diablo, whileseemingly in our backyard, is notrepresentative since the weatherstation is at an elevation of 2,170feet. The only other stations in ourcounty, Antioch and Martinez,seem equally unrepresentative.

The good news (for us weath-er geeks anyhow) is that 30-yearweather data records now exist forBuchanan Field in Concord, andthat data is listed in the 1981-2010NWS publication. The Concordairport, while not a perfect matchfor Clayton, is better than any-thing else available.

Here is how 2012 stacked up,with all temperatures measured indegrees Fahrenheit:

The annual average tempera-ture for 2012 was 60.2 degrees, 0.4degrees cooler than normal. Sixmonths were warmer than nor-mal, and six cooler. Compared tonormal, March was the coolest (-2.6 degrees) and November wasthe warmest (+1.8 degrees).

August was the hottest monthof 2012, with 14 days when maxi-mum temperatures of at least at90 degrees were reported. For theentire year there were 40 dayswhen the afternoon temperaturereached this threshold.

On June 16, the warmest dayof 2012, the temperature reached103° F. This was well below the

record maximum of 112 recordedduring the July 2006 heat wave.

December was the coldestmonth of 2012. The coldest dayof the year was Dec. 20 when themorning temperature dropped to28 degrees. Concord Airport’srecord low of 22 degrees was setduring the December 1990 coldsnap.

Our Mediterranean-style cli-mate features dry summers andwet winters. The past year was noexception since only one day ofmeasurable rainfall was reportedbetween April 26 and Oct. 10. In2012 Concord reported 19.31inches of rain, about 117 percentof the annual average.

December was by far thewettest month of 2012 when 5.08inches fell. Rainfall was recordedon 14 days during December, andthe heaviest one-day rainfall totalwas 1.76 inches on Dec. 2.

Because we have a dry sum-mer season in California, rainfallnormals have historically been cal-culated on a July to June basis.During the second half of lastyear 9.64 inches of rain was meas-ured, which is 168 percent of nor-mal for that period. The July 2012to June 2013 water year is off to agood start.

We don’t know what mothernature has is store for us in the

upcoming year but at least wehave a measuring stick to use toevaluate local weather data.Weather-wise, the Buchanan Fieldsite may not be a perfect match forClayton, but it is much better thananything we’ve had before.

‘Weather’ perfect or not, Clayton relieson stats from Buchanan Airport

WOODY WHITLATCH

WEATHER WORDS

Woody Whitlatch is a meteorolo-gist with PG&E. Email your ques-tions or comments to [email protected]

Many people may have madeNew Year’s resolutions this year,and perhaps already seen themthrown out the window. I’m notsure how many people resolvedto be happier this year but Ithink that being happier couldbe a wonderful way to be in2013; it not only benefits you,but also benefits everyone youare connected to.

Your level of happiness inyour daily life is more in yourcontrol than you think. Researchhas shown that 50 percent ofour happiness is due to ourgenetics (which we cannotchange) and only 10 percent isdue to circumstances (i.e. if Ipurchase this/get thatjob/move somewhere, etc.).That means that 40 percent ofour happiness is up to us.

So, in honor of resolving tobe happier in 2013, here aresome helpful hints from Dr.Christine Carter, a sociologistand happiness expert from UCBerkeley’s Greater GoodScience Center.

Make a Plan: Our mind tendsto focus on what has been leftunfinished on our to-do task list.Rather than feel pressured tocomplete the task straightaway,know that you’ll feel better ifyou simply create a plan for howand when you’ll take the next

step to complete the task.Write a Love Letter: Let some-

one know in writing (email ortext will do) that you’re thinkingabout them, which conveys justhow much you love and care.

Change your Mantra. Whensomeone asks you how you aredoing, instead of respondingwith the usual, “This is what hasbeen going wrong…” or “Thisis how unbelievably busy I’vebeen…”, talk about one thingthat you are grateful for instead.

Eight Hugs a Day: Scienceshows that your brain benefitsfrom a boost in oxytocin (whichis a feel-good neurotransmitter)when we give or get eight hugs aday.

Make Gratitude Placecards: Wefeel happier, and raise happierkids, when we practice gratitudedeliberately and consistently. Atyour next get-together, considerhaving table placecards thatpeople can write on inside withmessages of love and apprecia-tion.

Touch the Earth: Research hasshown we need to have directcontact with the Earth’s surfaceelectrons in order to reduce thenumber of damaging free radi-cals in our bodies. So, make apoint to spend 30-40 minutes ata time working in the garden orwalking barefoot.

Commit to Kindness. Do some-thing nice for someone else,even if they don’t know it wasyou.

Cultivate Your SupportNetwork. Happiness is best pre-dicted by the breadth and depthof our social ties. Do somethingto strengthen your tie to others– invite someone to dinner, helpout a neighbor, call someonehaving a hard time.

Spend Some Time Alone. Whilewe want to be connected to oth-ers, we also need our alone timeto increase our inner peace andmindfulness. Make a date withyourself and do something thatmakes you feel at peace.

Listen to Your Favorite Songs.Your favorite music can upliftyour spirit and bring you joy.Make sure you keep it handy fora happiness boost.

Resolve to pursue happiness in 2013

STEPHANIE HO

MIND MATTERS

Stephanie T. Ho is a licensed psy-chologist. She has a private practiceoffice in Walnut Creek and works atUC Berkeley. She can be reached [email protected].

As of Jan. 1, the state ofCalifornia changed its smogprogram. The new STAR Certi-fied Test and Repair system is alot like the old Test-only system,but now smog stations that meetthe state’s requirements andhave a good score will be able totest all vehicles.

What does this mean? If inthe past you went to a test-onlysite, now you can go to a STARCertified site. There will bemore STAR stations than therewere Test-only. The consumerwill have a wider choice.

California is also changingthe Consumers Assistance Pro-gram (CAP). This program givesfinancial assistance to peoplethat qualify.

Under the new system, theSTAR stations replace theGOLD Shield stations. Underthe new program the state willpay $500 towards the emissionsrepairs of a vehicle that failed itssmog test and meets the require-ments. For more informationplease visitwww.smogcheckca.gov.

The state is still running thevehicle retirement program.This program is to get older carsoff the road. You may retireyour vehicle if you qualify. Goto the state website mentionedabove to find out if you qualifyfor a state payment of $1,000 to$1,500 for your car.

Gary Taylor is service manager atClayton Valley Shell. Call him withquestions at (925) 672-3900

GARY TAYLOR

CAR TUNED

New yearbrings newsmog programsto state

The 2012-2013 school year ishalfway through, and so farClayton Valley Charter HighSchool has been a success. Theschool’s no-failure policy hasstudents working hard to main-tain their grades. The new disci-pline measures taken have

cleaned up most of the studentmisconduct. New quarterlybenchmark tests provide teach-ers with more precise measure-ments of student progress, andallow them to zero-in on stu-dents who need extra support.

It seems that separationfrom the district has only beenbeneficial in some ways, such astearing down the red tape thatkept Clayton Valley from mov-ing forward. But as the year pro-gressed, many students were

wondering “where are all themagnificent building improve-ments?”

Before Clayton Valley wentcharter, many of the charteradvocates promised or suggest-ed school improvements that

enticed students into jumpingon board the conversion band-wagon. However, now that sec-ond semester looms, studentscan only ask where are all theglorious renovations and techupgrades that persuaded manystudents to support the move-ment?

Once winter break is over,many of our questions will beanswered. CVCHS’s governingboard has formed a detailed andcomprehensive project list inorder to improve student educa-tion, athletics, and ease ofaccess; as well as beautify andimprove campus efficiency. Theentire project is funded by theMeasure C dollars, and totals toa whopping $6.7 million inexpenses. This includesimprovements in technology,track and field renovations,physical education facilityupgrades, school beautificationand restoration, and even con-struction of new buildings andclassrooms. Most importantly,this plan was approved monthsago, and many of theseimprovements are alreadyunderway.

While students and teacherswere away enjoying the festivi-ties of winter break, construc-tion was underway at CVCHS.Lockers were completelyrepainted and sanitized – a longoverdue improvement at thehigh school. According to theproject plan, many buildingssuch as the Multi-Use Room,locker rooms, and the gymnasi-um had the much-needed airconditioning units installed.

New turf and track is alsoscheduled to be installed at thefield, and new bleachers andrestrooms will be added at thelocation. In addition, all class-room computers will beupgraded, and classrooms willbe equipped with ceiling-mounted LCD projectors. Largepurchases such as copymachines for each wing, and allnew weights and exercise equip-ment, are also on the list. Notmention the recently construct-ed Chemistry buildings, and thenew soon-to-be-built weightroom.

It seems that many of thestudents who expected a radical-ly improved Clayton Valley underthe charter may see their expecta-tions become a reality. The waythings are transforming atCVCHS, maybe the “far-fetcheddream” of replacing dusty oldtextbooks with shiny new iPadsor similar gadgets is, in fact, apossibility. Still, I have no doubtthat these school-wide improve-ments will allow CVCHS reachits vision statement of “fosteringa culture of excellence.”

The cadet and symphonicband at Diablo View MiddleSchool had an amazing concerton Dec. 19, with both bandsplaying their hearts out.

To start off the concert, thecadet band played a fun holidaysong, “Jingle Bells.” The nextsong was “Anasazi,” whichpainted a picture of the ancientpueblo people in the audience’smind. They then played a won-derful rendition of “O ComeLittle Children,” the GermanChristmas carol. The trumpetswere featured in a great piececalled “The Buglers.” Their finalsong as a band, “Old MacDon-ald’s Band,” was an entertainingcombination of many classicsongs, including several favoritechildren’s songs. To concludetheir portion of the concertmany students in concert bandperformed solos.

Earlier in the week the sym-phonic band students had askedMr. Thompson if they couldplay a song dedicated to the vic-tims of Newtown, CT, so theystarted with “Amazing Grace.”Their next song was a classicalarrangement of “Carol of theBells.” “Regenesis (Song of thePlanet),” was about the eruptionof Mt. St. Helens and therebirth of the surroundingecosystem. The next songs thatthey played were “James BondReturns,” followed by “Penven-cy Castle.” “Can You NameThese Tunes” was another med-ley of popular songs. In prepa-ration for the symphonic band’strip to Disneyland, their finalsong was “Pirates of theCaribbean.”

Mr. Thompson teaches fourband classes. The cadet bandincludes sixth graders and stu-dents who are learning a newinstrument. The concert band isprimarily seventh graders. Thejazz band meets before schooland is made up of mostly eighthgraders, but also includes manyseventh graders. The symphonicband is again mostly eighthgraders, but there are also manyseventh graders.

“The band program is greatfor kids, because they get to playpretty much any instrument theywant to,” said Cecily Sotomayer,a symphonic band student. “It’sreally fun and got me more intoplaying the flute.”

All of the songs were fantas-tic. It was a great way to leadinto the holiday break.

I have a confession tomake: I actually really like poli-tics. I think that they are inter-esting and important, and domy best to keep up with issues,because I like feeling like asomewhat well-informed citi-zen. However, sometimes theyfrustrate me, and sometimesthey upset me, which is how Ihave been feeling about thiswhole fiscal cliff business.

I come from a middle classfamily with two expensiveteenagers and two impendingcollege tuitions looming. Mybrother and I are lucky enoughto be able to participate insports and extra-curriculars,and we are living comfortably,but we don’t have much extra.This is a situation that manyfamilies across the country arein, and the fiscal cliff can andwill have an effect on all of us.

However, it’s not the raisein taxes that frustrates me; it’sthe way neither party wanted tolet their opposition have theirway. All politicians know thatthis affects the entire country,regardless of how much moneythey have or who they votedfor. And I understand that

both sides are in a bit of apower struggle and relationsare still tense so soon after theelection. But is it really toomuch for both sides to juststep back and do what is rightfor the people that they arerepresenting?

Maybe I’m looking at thisfrom a naïve, why-can’t-we-all-just-get-along point of view,and maybe I’m just beingbiased toward my own opin-ions, but I don’t see why thismust be so complicated. I cer-tainly don’t think that it shouldbe a quick decision, but ifpoliticians are truly doing theright thing, I don’t believe itshould be debated this much. Ifeel that a more nonpartisanapproach should be consideredfor important decisions such asthis, because perhaps then amore effective and efficientagreement could be reached.

The way I see it, taxes are apart of life. And the more youhave, the more you should giveback. If I someday, miracu-lously, strike it rich, I will behappy to pay high taxes. Iwould feel obligated to givemore because I would have

more. It makes much moresense than trying to take fromthose who already have noth-ing to give.

For my family, taxes will beraised slightly. It’s not the bestnews in the world, since wedon’t exactly have money tospare, but we are happy with it.A portion of the money will goto Social Security, meaning ide-ally it will go to my retiredgrandparents, who need themoney more than us, becausethey don’t have the income thatwe do. That’s fine with me – infact, I feel incredibly fortunate.

Maybe the country shouldallow teenagers like me tomake the laws.

Best of charter conversion may be comingJanuary 11, 2013 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com

Samantha Tuohey is in the sev-enth grade at Diablo View MiddleSchool and plans to be a writer some-day. Email your story ideas, com-ments and questions [email protected].

Robbie Parker is a freshman atClayton Valley Charter HighSchool. Send comments [email protected]

ROBBIE PARKER

CVCHS REPORTER

SARA CHAVEZ

TEEN SPEAK

SAMANTHA TUOHEY

DVMS REPORTER

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RUMORS THAT THE HIGH-POWERED CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL Football team’s offensewore out the turf this fall at the Concord school are simply not true. The turf was installed in2004 and had actually exceeded its expected lifetime. During the holiday break over the pastthree weeks the green turf was rolled out and when students return from vacation they foundbrand new black turf with a large school logo at midfield and the new field lined for football,soccer and lacrosse. The project is funded by Mt. Diablo Unified School District Measure C.More projects at Gonsalves Stadium will happen this summer when additional bleachers, anew synthetic running track, snack shack and additional paved walkways will all be installed.

DVMSbands rockedtheir holidayconcert

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Jay Bedecarre


Clayton sports in 2012 tookon a decidedly international fla-vor with two local kids attainingOlympic glory and America’sbiggest cycling race wheelingthrough town. There were manymore local news and accom-plishments that bear one morelook at before we consign the12th year of the new millenni-um (2000 was part of the 20thcentury they tell us) to ourmemory books. It was such aspecial sports year that half ofthe 24 issues of the Clayton Pio-neer in 2012 featured sports sto-ries on the front page!

Our two local Olympians,Kara Kohler and Kristian Ipsen,each took third in the LondonOlympics and we feel we needthree separate listings to do jus-tice to their magical year.

KARA KOHLER, KRISTIAN

IPSEN QUALIFY FOR USOLYMPIC TEAM

The process to determinethe United States diving androwing teams was entirely differ-ent however it turned out thaton June 22 both rower KaraKohler and diver Kristian Ipsensecured their tickets to Londonas part of the United StatesOlympic Team.

For Kohler it was the end ofan evaluation process of over a

year where race results frommajor international meets inEurope were combined withtesting and races among Ameri-can hopefuls. Kohler took a yearoff from Cal Berkeley and livedat the training center in NewJersey to give herself the bestchance of making an American

boat. She was selected alongwith three women who won sil-ver at the 2011 World Champi-onship in the quadruple sculls.

For Ipsen it was essentiallyan all or nothing competition atthe US Diving Trials in Wash-ington. After becoming the firstStanford male diver to win an

NCAA title in 82 years in MarchIpsen took off the spring quar-ter to concentrate on training,especially with his diving partnerTroy Dumais. The pair dominat-ed American competition sincethey were paired by USA Divingfour years ago and were odd-sonfavorites in the 3M synchro.They lived up to their billing atthe Trials on June 22. A coupledays later Ipsen suffered a bitterdisappointment as he was edgedout on the final dive for a placein the individual 3M spring-board, ironically beingoutscored 1.25 points byDumais.

IPSEN, KOHLER EARN

BRONZE MEDALS IN LONDON

In London Ipsen andDumais competed in a finals-only 3M synchro against sevenother international teams onAug. 1. In a roller coast effortthe Americans finished com-fortably in third and thus on themedal podium behind Chineseand Russian teams. Ipsen at 19was the youngest member ofthe surprising USA diving teamthat exceeded expectations inLondon. In our 2003 sportsyear in review a 10-year-oldIpsen was featured as he hadbegun to make a name for him-self as an American divingprodigy.

In 2003 Kohler was swim-ming for the Dana Hills SwimTeam and was presented withher 11-12 age group high pointaward at the County Meet byNatalie Coughlin, who hasetched her name in Olympiclore since then. At the LondonGames Kohler’s quad team had

to race three times in five daysculminating with the finals onEton Donnery Rowing Centreon Aug. 1 in the morning beforeIpsen’s diving finals. The Amer-icans were within grasp of a sil-ver medal before taking third asfavored Ukraine took gold andGermany overtook the USA forsilver. Kohler too was theyoungest member of herOlympic rowing team, male orfemale.

CLAYTON WELCOMES ITS

HOMEGROWN OLYMPIANS

The cherry on top of thesundae for Kohler and Ipsencame Sept. 15 when they werethe star attractions of a paradeand celebration in downtownClayton, where both spent muchof their childhood. An estimat-ed 5000-6000 fans of all agescovered the Main St. paraderoute and then filled The Groveto overflowing as a number ofcivic dignitaries lauded and hon-ored the two bronze medalists.Among those on the podiumwas Clayton’s adoptedOlympian, Don Bragg, whowon the 1960 Rome Olympicspole vault gold medal. Ipsen andKohler repaid the attendeesshowing off their Olympicmedals and giving short heart-felt speeches and then signingautographs for everyone whowanted one. Both athletesthrilled the crowd when theysaid they are looking ahead toRio and the 2016 Olympics.

PARDI STEPS DOWNS FROM

CLAYTON VALLEY FOOTBALL,MURPHY TAKES THE REINS

Clayton Valley High coachHerc Pardi stepped down after16 years in charge of Eaglesfootball in March a short timeafter his long-time defensivecoordinator Jerry Coakleypassed away. Pardi led his almamater to three North Coast Sec-tion championship games and12 playoff appearances in those16 years.

It is ironic that at the end ofthe year legendary De La SalleHigh coach Bob Ladouceur alsocoached his final game as theSpartans won a fourth straightState Bowl Game Open Divi-sion championship. “Lad” andPardi will now forever be linkedas it was Pardi’s 1991 Pittsburgteam which defeated DLS 35-27in the NCS finals in what turnedout to be the last time (covering236 games) De La Salle lost to aNorthern California team. In2004 Clayton Valley tied theSpartans 17-17 (actually DLStied Clayton that evening), oneof only three ties in Ladouceur’s427 games in charge of the

Concord school over 34 sea-sons. Pardi coached high schoolfootball 37 years.

After Pardi stepped downClayton Valley hired Tim Mur-phy as its new football coach.Murphy won an NCS champi-onship in 1999 while at YgnacioValley and then embarked on asuccessful run at Clovis East.He returned to the Bay Area in2012 and athletic director PatMiddendorf attracted him tothe new charter high schoolafter Murphy originally commit-ted to return to Ygnacio Valley.

AMGEN TOUR OF CALIFORNIA

CYCLES THROUGH CLAYTON

The Amgen Tour of Califor-nia has established itself asAmerica’s largest and most pres-tigious professional road cyclingrace. The tour changes its routeeach year and in 2012 for thefirst time setup a stage featuringa climb over Mt. Diablo. On theback end of that climb May 15the 125 riders came throughClayton and out Marsh CreekRd. towards the Stage 3 conclu-sion in Livermore. Ygnacio Val-ley, Clayton and Marsh Creekroads were lined by bicycle afi-cionados, interested first-timespectators and several classes ofMt. Diablo Elementary studentsas the racers whizzed throughClayton in two packs over a 15-minute period. Regrettably, itdoesn’t appear the 2013 Tourwill be coming down this side ofMt. Diablo and thus Claytonwon’t be on the race route.

Sports

JAY BEDECARRÉ

Clayton Pioneer

Medals were bronze but 2012 was golden sports year

See Golden Year ,page 12

Pete Barra photo

AMGEN TOUR OF CALIFORNIA CYCLING RACE whizzes through Clayton May 15 after descending Mt. Diablo.

Mike Dunn

CLAYTON VALLEY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL football team wins school’s first-ever section championship.

Mike Dunn photo

1960 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST DON BRAGG celebrated with 2012 ClaytonOlympians Kara Kohler and Kristian Ipsen and their bronze medals from London.

Top: Herc PardiBelow: Tim Murphy

Clayton Valley Charter HighSchool water polo and footballathletes have been receivingrecognition for their outstand-ing performances during the fallseason.

From the girls water poloteam four players got recogni-tion on the all-North Coast Sec-tion teams while a pair ofCVCHS boys were also hon-ored. Seniors Taylor Ryle andCasey Adams were selected tothe first team all-NCS squad.Junior teammates Sara Abeleand Sara Johnson were picked tothe second and third NCSteams, respectively.

Juniors Jack Brown (secondteam) and Kenny Cuneo (third)were picked to NCS boys all-section teams.

The NCS champion ClaytonValley Charter football team, asexpected, also continues to gar-ner post-season honors. TheEagles won the school’s first-ever section football title andthen met Oakdale in the inaugu-ral Northern California Region-al Division II Bowl Game.

New coach Tim Murphywon double honors after beingselected Metro coach of theyear by the San FranciscoChronicle and East Bay coachof the year by the Bay AreaNews Group. Murphy has alsobeen nominated for State coachof the year consideration.

The Eagles offensive work-horse and record-setting run-ning back Joe Protheroe joinedhis coach for top award when hewas named the East Bay offen-sive player of the year as well asbeing first-team all-East Bayalong with lineman LoganBangert. Their senior classmateJesse Medrano was second teamall-East Bay defense.

Protheroe was a first-teamall-Metro team pick whileBangert was second team.Receiving honorable mentionall-Metro were Mike Protheroeand Curtis Grant.

Medrano, Bangert andDakohta Cramer played in theHoliday Classic post-seasonall-star game last month. JoeProtheroe was still out ofcommission from the ankleinjury he sustained in the sec-ond half of the Bowl Gameand did not play.

Linebacker Vince Buhagiar(36) was a two-way standout forClayton Valley High School in2009 earning Diablo Valley Ath-letic League MVP honors as asenior while leading his team tothe second round of the NorthCoast Section playoffs. A yearlater he made an immediateimpact as a freshman standout atSan Jose State and this year as ajunior was a first-team All-West-ern Athletic Conference line-backer.

He was second on the Spar-tans with 89 tackles and fourth onthe team with 9.5 tackles for loss.The former Eagle started everygame during San Jose State’s 11-2season. With temperatures near-ing 20 degrees with a wind chill inWashington, D.C. #24-ranked SanJose State took a 29-20 win overBowling Green in the MilitaryBowl last month. The Spartansfinished 2012 with seven consecu-tive wins and can look forward toa possible top-20 finish in bothnational polls for the first time inschool history.

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JAY BEDECARRÉ

Clayton Pioneer

JAY BEDECARRÉ

Clayton Pioneer

Eagles players,coach earn fallsports honors

Former Eagle earns WAC award, D.C.bowl game win for San Jose State

Photo courtesy San Jose State University

A fierce tackler ever since he stepped on the San Jose State University campus three years agoas a freshman, Vince Buhagiar had his best year to date this past fall. The former ClaytonValley High footballer was named to the all-Western Athletic Conference team and capped hisjunior year with plays like this in the Military Bowl against Bowling Green in Washington, D.C.as he was in on seven tackles.

Sports

Jason Rogers

Clayton Valley lost a pair of DVAL girls basketball gameslast season after going undefeated in league in 2010-2011. At the beginning of the calendar year and leagueseason the Eagles had their second and third games thispast week against Berean Christian and Northgate, theteams to claim wins over the Eagles a year ago. JuniorKayla Taylor was surrounded by Ygnacio Valley players butmanaged a layup in the league opener. CV defeatedBerean 68-37 in round two.

Clayton Valley girls hoopsright in the middle of DVALcontenders from the start

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DANA HILLS RULES THE

POOL; LOCAL SWIM TEAMS

NAME NEW COACHES

Dana Hills Swim Team wasnoticed for its 11th City Meetchampionship in our 2003sports review. That champi-onship came after a 2002 seasonwhen the Otters were third atCity Meet, breaking a 10-yearwinning streak. The subsequentyears have all been winning onesas DHST now has 20 City Meetchampionships in 21 years. Themeet itself has seen somechanges with teams from Pleas-ant Hill and Martinez also addedto the competition that previ-ously only featured Concordand Clayton teams. The Otterswere second at county meet in2011 and took fifth this pastsummer as many of their swim-mers were in their “down year.”

Oakhurst Country Club, theother local recreation swimteam, made a splash before the2012 season when Jasmine Mil-lan was appointed head coach.The young Carondelet HighSchool coach was put in chargeof the Orcas beginning lastsummer. Serge Victor complet-ed the second season of his sec-ond stint in charge of DanaHills in 2012 continuing his out-standing results for the Otters.Recently the Dana Hills boardannounced the appointment ofJohn Tsubota as new head coachafter 16 years with the WalnutCreek Swim Club.

EAGLES WIN FIRST-EVER SEC-TION FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Clayton Valley Charter foot-ball this fall featured a newcoach in Tim Murphy andentirely new offensive anddefensive systems. The Eagleslost their season opened to Divi-sion I power Pittsburg but thenrolled off 12 consecutive lop-sided victories including winsover DVAL contenders Con-cord (two-time NCS finalists)and resurgent Northgate toclaim the schools DVAL crownsince 2008. They then went into

the playoffs and vanquishedthree straight teams (including arepeat victory over Concord inthe semifinals) capped by a 35-7win over Rancho Cotate in theNCS Division II finals, the firstsection title in the 54 years ofClayton Valley football.

Normally that would havebeen it for the season but Cali-fornia instituted a RegionalBowl Game prior to the CIFState Bowl Games and CVCHSwas picked to meet Oakdale inthe first ever DII Regionalgame. The back and forth gameended with Oakdale on top 27-24. The contest may have ulti-mately been determined whenCV star running back JoeProtheroe was injured in thethird quarter and couldn’t finishout the game. Protheroe shat-tered numerous school recordswhile rushing for 34 touch-downs and about 3,000 yards inMurphy’s wing-gun offense.What offensive recordsProtheroe didn’t break theEagles as a team did as one ofthe highest scoring teams in Cal-ifornia high school football.

HIGH SCHOOL ADOPTS NEW

NAME; CVCHS COACHING

CHANGES FOLLOW

Clayton Valley High Schooladded the word Charter to itsname while its sports teamscontinue to play in the DiabloValley Athletic League and com-pete for North Coast Sectionand state honors. Pat Midden-dorf had been in charge of theathletic department for severalyears but she moved into a newrole at the school as Director ofOperations and Special Educa-tion. Greg Fister was appointedas the new AD and by the timethe school year at least half ofthe 24 varsity sports at CVCHSwill have had a change in thehead coach position.

That transition began lastsummer when Casey Coakleyreturned to the Eagles coachingranks as head baseball coach.Pardi had filled in for the 2012

season as interim head coachafter Bob Ralston left for theCal State East Bay job. Pardireturns as the Eagles pitchingcoach, a slot he held for Ralston.The other varsity teams withnew head coaches include foot-ball, boys water polo, girls golf,boys soccer, girls lacrosse, plusthe boys and girls cross country,track and field and swim teams.The campus on Alberta Way isalso having some immediatechanges to the athletic facilitieswith new turf installed over theholiday break and plans for anew track, bleacher, snack shackall scheduled for next summer.Long-term plans include apotential swim complex, addi-tional turf field and new softballdiamond.

LOCAL SOCCER TEAMS WIN

TOURNAMENT TITLES; SWANN

RETURNS TO COLLEGE

Clayton resident MeganSwann, a former 27-year-oldClayton Valley High soccerstandout and long-time clubsoccer coach with Diablo Fut-bol Club, was named the firstwomen’s coach at UC Merced.She took her first-year team tothe conference playoffs and isout on the recruiting trail find-ing new players for the Bobcats.

Mt. Diablo Soccer Associa-tion teams enjoyed success inthe annual series of spring tour-naments claiming several cham-pionships and top finishes fromPacifica to Reno. Diablo FC waswell represented with Claytonand Concord players on its com-petitive team who played all overthe West Coast including in theprestigious Western CollegeDevelopment Association andNational Premier League. TheDiablo FC 94 under 17 girlsearned a berth in the NationalCup XI last summer in Chicago.

LOCAL ATHLETES, TEAMS

MAKE THEIR MARK

In addition to the aforemen-tioned teams and athletes therewere no shortage of othersfrom our area who had memo-rable performances and events

during the past year. The Clay-ton Valley girls volleyball teamheld a Dig Pink cancer aware-ness game with Berean Christianin the fall. Two local wrestlers,Joe Moita of De La Salle (thirdplace) and Troy Lakin of Clay-ton Valley (fifth), were on thepodium at the state wrestlingchampionships.

Numerous Clayton Valleyteams earned berths in the NCSplayoffs and individual athleteswere given all-DVAL awardsand enjoyed placing in NCScompetition. Both soccer teams,football and golf won leaguetitles. Casey Adams of CVCHSwas a state finalist in theWendy’s High School Heismanprogram. Runner Alex Tate andtennis player Jonathan Kim wereClayton Valley High athletes ofthe year.

Former local high schoolathletes Samantha Walker (Calsoccer), Garrett Biel (TrinityUniversity football) and MattDay (Westmont College crosscountry and track) concludedtheir collegiate careers whilejunior linebacker Vince Buha-giar started the Military Bowlfor victorious San Jose State.

Both St. Bonaventure CYObasketball (Oakland DioceseCYO playoffs) and Clayton Val-ley Falcons football teams(Turkey Bowl) enjoyed reachingthe final championship games oftheir seasons.

Sports Golden Year, from page 10

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SPEAKERS, GUESTS ADDED FOR HOT STOVE LEAGUE

BASEBALL DINNER THIS FRIDAYHead baseball coach Casey Coakley is reviving an old tradition

with the first Clayton Valley Charter High School Hot Stove Dinnerthis Friday, Jan. 11. The evening’s festivities will whet the appetite ofbaseball fans, Clayton Valley alumni and current CVCHS families inthe cold winter months before spring training starts again. There willbe lots of baseball talk with Clayton Valley coaches past and presentincluding Coakley, Herc Pardi, Joe Panella, Tom DiMercurio, StanRoss, Bob Johnson and Bob Ralston and former Eagle players whowent on to college and professional careers including Bud Beemer,Matt and Scott Gorgen, Sam Ray, Chris Mazza, Lance Daniels, VinceBruno, Sam Carter and Adam Elliot. Door prizes, raffles and dinnerall benefit CVCHS Baseball and its scholarship fund. The event isfrom 6-9:30 p.m. at Shadelands Civic Arts Center, 111 N. Wiget Ln.at Ygnacio Valley Rd. in Walnut Creek. For more information and tobuy tickets at $40 each, send email to coach Coakley [email protected].

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES-DIABLO FC WINTER SOCCER ACADEMY NOW OPEN

Diablo FC’s renowned 12th annual Winter Soccer Academy nowaffiliated with the San Jose Earthquakes opened this week runningon Mondays and Thursdays from 5-6 p.m. at Willow Pass Park inConcord through Feb. 14. Boys and girls 5-12 years of age in all skilllevels can participate in Winter Academy getting professional coach-ing in a non-competitive environment. The year-round U8 San JoseEarthquakes-Diablo FC Academy also begins its 2013 sessions withthe Winter Academy. St. Mary’s College head coach Adam Cooperruns the Winter Academy. For more information on the WinterAcademy and U8 Soccer Academy visit diablofc.org.

SPRING YOUTH PROGRAM SIGNUPS NOW AT CLAYTON GYMSpring youth basketball academy for boys and girls of all skill lev-

els in first through ninth grades is returning to Clayton CommunityGym for seven Fridays starting Mar. 15.

Signups are also being taken for spring youth volleyball league,which will run on Saturdays from Mar. 2-April 20 for ages 8-16.

Youth Tee-ball league for ages 3-5 is Mar. 16-Apr. 27. Registra-tion deadline for these programs is Feb. 25. For more information orto register for any program offered by All Out Sports at the gym,visit alloutsportsleague-clayton.com.

CV LITTLE LEAGUE REGISTRATION CLOSES JAN. 21Registration for Clayton Valley Little League is open until Mon-

day, Jan. 21, for the spring 2013 season. Baseball programs for play-ers ages four to 14 and softball for girls four to 14 are both open forregistration. The CVLL program began in 1964 and includes a Chal-

lenger Division for players with physical and mental special needs.Players must reside within the CVLL boundaries. Tryouts being Jan.26 and continue through Feb. 10. Opening day is Mar. 24. Go tocvll.org for complete information and to register.

DIABLO FC U9-U12 SOCCER TRYOUTS JAN. 26-28Diablo FC tryouts for the 2013 season for under 9 through under

12 boys competitive teams and U9-U11 girls will be held Jan. 26-27-28 in Concord. Boys born between Aug. 1, 2001 and July 31, 2006and girls born between Aug. 1, 2002 and July 31, 2006 are invited totry out. Tryouts for girls in the U12-U14 and boys U13-U14 agegroups will be Feb. 2 and 4. There is no charge to try out and play-ers can pre-register today at diablofc.org.

CLAYTON VALLEY SEEKS HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONSClayton Valley High School Athletic Hall of Fame committee is

accepting nominations for the 2013 induction class. This will be thethird class for the Hall, which began during the school’s 50thanniversary year in 2008. Individuals can nominate student athletesand coaches for the Hall of Fame. The requirement is that the nom-inee was a CVHS grad or coach in the years 1960-1999 who was all-league in at least one sport. Requests for a nomination form can besent via e-mail to Dee Billeter at [email protected] or Bill Nel-son at [email protected]. Include a mailing address andan application form will be mailed to you. The induction takes placeMay 18 at Centre Concord.

10TH ANNUAL DIABLO FC CRAB FEED & AUCTION FEB. 8The 10th annual Crab Feed and Auction to support Diablo FC

youth soccer programs is Friday, Feb. 8, at Centre Concord. Besidesthe crab feed dinner and fund-raising live and silent auctions, therewill be dancing. Tickets are $50. To get more info or to buy ticketsvisit diablofc.org.

SPRING SIGNUPS FOR MT. DIABLO SOCCER TAKEN ONLINEMt. Diablo Soccer is accepting applications for its spring program

which begins in March. Players who participated in the fall season arecharged only $50 for spring. Boys and girls 4 to 18 years of age cantake part. Under 12 and older divisions in spring league are co-ed.Spring league ends in mid-May and is generally less formal than fallwith players getting the opportunity to play soccer without any post-season playoff pressure. Email any questions [email protected]. Register online at mdsoccer.org.

19TH CVCHS CRAB FEED & AUCTION MAR. 16Clayton Valley Charter High School Athletic Boosters will hold

their 19th annual Crab Feed and Auction on Saturday, Mar. 16, atCentre Concord. Tickets are sold on a first come, first served basisand the popular event always sells out. Must be 21 or older to attend.For more info email [email protected] or go tocvhsboosters.org to order tickets.


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Have you ever felt that the bigevents in our lives are sometimesthe result of one small decisionthat, once made, shifts everyevent following it toward a slight-ly new trajectory? Yeah, RachelJoyce’s debut novel, “The Unlike-

ly Pilgrimage of Harold Fry,” islike that.

The morning that quietlyretired Harold Fry begins hiswalk across England starts muchas any other day in substance andform, except one thing. Haroldreceives a letter from QueenieHennessy, from a hospice inBerwick-upon-Tweed. Queenie isdying of cancer, and she has writ-ten Harold to say goodbye.Though he hasn’t seen or talkedto Queenie in many years, Haroldis staggered by the news andbegins a series of steps that takehim on a journey both acrossEngland and to the center of hisheart.

Harold doesn’t mean to hoofit across the country. What he

means to do was to mail a letterto Queenie, thanking her for herfriendship all thoseyears ago. Queenie’sfriendship, as it turnsout, is the mostauthentic relationshipthat Harold has had indecades. Maureen Fry,Harold’s wife, is asemotionally distant asthe moon, and Haroldcannot express to herthe depth of his shockof the news aboutQueenie. In fact, when Haroldmentions Queenie, Maureenblandly responds that she can’t beexpected to remember everyonefrom his work, and could Haroldplease pass the jam?

Harold is not a great mancompelled to do great things, but

he feels bound to dosomething, so hewrites Queenie a note,telling her that hehopes she will get bet-ter. Then heading outin little more than awindbreaker, slacks,and a pair of loafers,he aims to mail his let-ter at the corner mail-box. But he gets to thecorner and thinks that

perhaps he will mail it at the nextpost box, then the next, and thenext. Before he knows it, Haroldis on the road, walking towardBerwick-upon-Tweed.

He cannot even admit to him-self that he would rather keepwalking away from Maureen andthe antiseptic sleepwalk that istheir life, than dare to think ofreturning. Maureen would cer-tainly not understand Harold’sneed to do something to honorQueenie. So he walks. Haroldreaches the outer borders of theirvillage, and continues northwardcompletely ill-prepared and quitewithout a plan.

During his cross-countryjourney, Harold meets many peo-ple who, inspired by his pilgrim-age, convince him to keep walk-ing despite the obvious lunacy ofdoing so. Soon, the news stationscatch wind of Harold’s story andhe becomes a folk hero, walkingto deliver a message to a dyingfriend. He attracts groupies andcritics, and watches as his privatepilgrimage become a reality newsevent with little actual resem-blance to the facts.

In the end, Harold loses hismind, finds his compass, andcompletes his big journey withlittle fanfare. In the end, Haroldlets his heart break open, wherehe finds the love he had hiddenaway.

After 24 years with theContra Costa County Librarysystem, longtime ClaytonCommunity Library stafferMarietta Leffner is retiring. Shebegan as a library assistant forthe Mobile Library, and workedat the Walnut Creek , El Cerritoand Pinole libraries before join-ing the staff in Clayton in 1995.

The youngest in a family ofseven children, Leffner grew upin the Philippine Islands, andobtained her Master’s Degree in

Library Science there. After grad-uating, she travelled to theUnited States “for a year.” Shelived in Los Angeles for a time,but then moved to Chicagowhere she had friends. Whileworking there, she met herfuture husband, Ray. They mar-ried, and moved to Pleasant Hilland Concord where they raisedtwo daughters, both of whom

are now college graduates.“She is our Martha Stewart of

the library,” says Marnie Malcolm, a library volunteer and LibraryFoundation officer, of Leffner.“Whenever there is a party orevent, it is Marietta who helpsorganize it. She brings deliciousdishes and baked goods topotlucks, and often providessnacks for the workers who setup the book sales.”

Leffner is also known to takecare of the potted plants scat-tered throughout the library, andoften brings cut flower arrange-ments for the circulation desk.

Still, it is her work with books– and those who to read them –that makes Leffner stand out.Her Picture Book Times andcraft sessions for children areenthusiastically attended.

“She is a caring teacher whoalways makes the times specialwith projects, seasonal displaysor even finger puppets,” says TedHolmsen, a library volunteer.

“The sounds of laughter orsinging can be heard comingfrom the room. You can tell thatshe enjoys the time also.”

Leffner’s co-workers areeager to sing her praises.“Marietta has an ability to con-nect with people of all ages,”says Diana Bauer, LibraryFoundation secretary.

“She has a gift for hospitality,and yet she has a manner ofquiet humility.”

Joyce Atkinson and JeanneBoyd, president and vice presi-dent of the Library Foundation ,agree that Marietta makespatrons and volunteers feel wel-come. She donates extra hoursand materials to make the proj-ects successful.

Library volunteer JoanChesterman remembers Mariettafrom the old Bookmobile thatbrought the library to the neigh-borhoods. “Marietta is a personwho takes on whatever is askedof her. She puts 110 percent intoanything she does. Every time Ileave after my shift, she alwaysthanks me for my help. It reallymakes a volunteer feel thathis/her time is valuable to others.I will miss her cheerful smile.”

Karen Hansen-Smith, SeniorClayton Community LibraryManager, perhaps sums upLeffner’s contributions the best:“Marietta provides consistentlygood service to all patrons. Herprofessionalism and care will begreatly missed.”

Her giving spirit and sense ofcommunity doesn’t stop at thelibrary doors. Throughout theiryears in Concord, Marietta andRay have given many hours totheir church and community.They plan to continue their vol-unteering, but hope to havemore time to devote to theirhobbies and travel.


Book Review

An ordinary man’s extraordinary journey

CYNTHIA GREGORY

FOR THE BOOKS

Cynthia Gregory writes bookreviews, award-winning short storiesand a blog. Visit her at www.twogirlstakeonlove.com or write [email protected]

Marietta Leffner finishes herchapter with Clayton Library

Photo by Marnie MalcolmMARIETTA LEFFNER

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The holidays have come andgone with a festive “whoosh!”and you’re feeling very organized,as you just stowed away the lastbox of holiday trimmings back inthe attic. Taking a break with acup of tea, you notice that yourhouse is looking a little tired, veryun-festive, drab, un-glittery andjust plain boring. But no need tofret. This is the perfect time toassess furnishings in your homeand start the new year off with anupdated plan for your furniture.

The easiest solution to bringnew life to a living space that hasbecome stale is to move your fur-niture. In fact, if you have thetime (and patience), move all fur-nishings completely out of yourliving space and view the roomempty. Sometimes it’s hard to seethe positive attributes of a spacewhen existing pieces of furni-ture, and the layer of accessories,are clouding your view.

Clearing out a living spaceand starting from scratch, in

some respect, is a great opportu-nity to take inventory of the fur-nishings you really do need andlove, versus the pieces that aretaking up space and have no dec-orative, nor functional, purpose.This is called editing, and I’d liketo share a little secret about cre-ating a “perfect” floor plan: youdon’t have to use every piece offurniture that you own in onespace. Console tables, occasionalchairs, chests of drawers – thesepieces can go just about any-

where if you have the space. Aconsole table can go in the entry,an occasional chair in the powderroom, a chest of drawers in yourdining room. Spreading out yourfurniture throughout your homewill keep things balanced, andmaybe even a little unexpectedand fun.

So how do you get startedwith a new furniture plan?Whether this is a post-holiday“remodel” or a new home, beforemoving one piece of furniture,ask yourself a few questions:� How do you want to use this

living space? Do you have anew purpose in mind? Orwill the usage stay the same?

� What piece of furniture willanchor the room? Largesofas, pianos, entertainmentcabinets; these are the piecesthat may only have one ortwo practical locations.

� Do you want to situate furni-ture towards an exteriorview? TV and fireplace

combo? Or maybe anotherliving space?

� How many people does theliving space need to accom-modate? A private retreatfor two? Or accommoda-tions for several familymembers or friends?

� Is it possible to create multi-ple conversational areas inthis living space?

� Do you have the right bal-ance of functional and deco-rative pieces?There are a lot of questions,

demanding a lot of functional-decorative thinking. Basically, ittakes a lot of work to get to thebottom of a great floor plan.But once this exercise is com-plete, you’ll have a fresh newlook that only cost time and agood strong back … or two.

JENNIFER LEISCHER

DESIGN & DÉCOR

Jennifer Leischer is the owner ofJ. Designs Interior Design based inClayton. Contact her with questions,comments and suggestions [email protected]

IN CLAYTON

JJaann.. 2233FFiirree SSttaattiioonn CClloossuurree MMeeeettiinnggThe Fire Chief, members of the Board of Directors, members ofCity Council and the City Manager meet to discuss the closure ofClayton’s Station 11 with the public. 7 p.m. Clayton CommunityLibrary, 6125 Clayton Road.

JJaann.. 2288SSppeeaakkeerr ffrroomm SSTTAANNDD!!Scott Chavez, volunteer with STAND!, talks about their programsto stop domestic violence and child abuse. Sponsored by theAmerican Association of University Women. 7:30 p.m. DiamondTerrace, 6401 Center St., Clayton. Free.

EVENTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

JJaann.. 11223344tthh AAnnnnuuaall SShheelllliiee AAwwaarrddssGala celebration honoring outstanding performing arts achieve-ments in Central Contra Costa featuring numbers from nominat-ed productions. 7:30 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 CivicDr., Walnut Creek. $30. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

JJaann.. 1144SSttrrookkee SSuuppppoorrtt GGrroouuppCarol Howard-Wooten, MA, MFT and stroke survivor discussesKeeping Hope Alive, her nonprofit organization dedicated tohelping reclaim meaningful lives after a stroke. 7 – 9 p.m.Concord Room, John Muir Medical Center, 2540 East St.,Concord. Free. Contact Ann Dzuna 376-6218.

JJaann.. 1177 –– 1199CCoommppaannyy CC CCoonntteemmppoorraarryy BBaalllleettThe Company’s winter program brims with innovation, represent-ed by three world premieres. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $10-$45. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

JJaann.. 1188““BBeerrnniiccee BBoobbss HHeerr HHaaiirr””F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tongue-in-cheek coming of age story. 8 p.m.Cue Productions Live, 1835 Colfax St., Concord. $25.brownpapertickets.com.

JJaann.. 2200CCaalliiffoorrnniiaa SSyymmpphhoonnyyThe symphony performs Mozart and Tchaikovsky. 4 p.m. LesherCenter for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $35-$65.lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

SSttaarrttiinngg JJaann.. 2244HHaamm RRaaddiioo LLiicceennssiinngg CCoouurrsseeSeven-week course to learn what you need to earn yourTechnician Class FCC Amateur Radio License. Held by SalvationArmy and Mt. Diablo Amateur Radio Club. 7 – 9 p.m. SalvationArmy, 3950 Clayton Road., Concord. Class is free. $5 materialsfee plus textbook. Registration [email protected].

JJaann.. 2255 –– 2277““PPrriinncceessss IIddaa””Lamplighters Music Theatre’s performance of Gilbert andSullivan’s “Princess Ida.” Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 CivicDr., W.C. $25-$54. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

JJaann.. 2255 –– FFeebb.. 99““DDoowwnn aann AAlllleeyy FFiilllleedd wwiitthh CCaattss””Australian thriller set in a rare used book shop in Sydney. DiabloActors’ Ensemble Theatre, 1345 Locust St., Walnut Creek. $10-$25. diabloactors.com.

JJaann.. 2266WWiinnddss AAccrroossss tthhee BBaayyPremier Bay Area Youth Wind Ensemble encouraging the loveand support of instrumental music. 8 p.m. Lesher Center for theArts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $12. lesherartscenter.org.943-7469.

JJaann.. 2277VVooccaall GGeemmss ooff tthhee RRaaggttiimmee EErraaSparkling sampler of songs from the ragtime era. 2:15 p.m.Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek. $25.lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

FFeebb.. 11--22SSmmuuiinn BBaalllleettWinter program. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Dr.,Walnut Creek. $54-$70. lesherartscenter.org. 943-7469.

FFeebb.. 11 –– MMaarr.. 22““OOlldd WWiicckkeedd SSoonnggss””Center REP performs this inspirational journey of two very differ-ent men, with music as a common bond, who must find a way tobreak through their pasts. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 CivicDr., Walnut Creek. $33-$51. centerrep.org. 943-7469.

FUNDRAISERSJJaann.. 2233CChhuucckk EE.. CChheeeessee’’ssOrganized by Mt. Diablo Elementary Parent Faculty Club.Mention Mt. Diablo Elementary and Chuck E. Cheese’s donates15 percent. 12 - 9 p.m. Located at 1611 Willow Pass Road,Concord. 691-1200.

AT THE LIBRARYThe Clayton Library is at 6125 Clayton Road. Programs are freeunless otherwise noted. claytonlibrary.org or 673-0659.

WWeeddnneessddaayyssBBooookk BBuuddddiieessA volunteer will read stories for children 3 and older. 1-2 p.m.

JJaann.. 1144CCllaayyttoonn LLiibbrraarryy BBooookk CClluubbSunny Solomon leads the discussion of “Next to Love” by EllenFeldman. Open to anyone who would like to join. 7 p.m.

JJaann.. 1166WWiillllss aanndd TTrruussttssWorkshop conducted by attorney Ivette Santaella. Presentationand time for questions and answers. 6 – 8 p.m. Registrationrequired. ccclib.org or 673-0659.

FFeebb.. 22 –– MMaarr.. 22CChhiillll OOuutt aanndd RReeaaddFor K through 2nd graders. Pick up reading record, read 10books and return for a prize. Dr. Seuss read-in on Mar. 2 from11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

GOVERNMENT11sstt aanndd 33rrdd TTuueessddaayyssCCllaayyttoonn CCiittyy CCoouunncciill7 p.m. Hoyer Hall, Clayton Library, 6125 Clayton Road. 673-7304 or ci.clayton.ca.us.

22nndd aanndd 44tthh TTuueessddaayyssCCllaayyttoonn PPllaannnniinngg CCoommmmiissssiioonn7 p.m., Hoyer Hall, Clayton Library, 6125 Clayton Road. 673-7304 or ci.clayton.ca.us.

Community CalendarPLEASE SUBMIT YOUR CLAYTON COMMUNITY CALENDAR EVENTS BY 5 P.M. JAN. 16 FOR THE JAN. 25 ISSUE. ITEMS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY EMAIL TO [email protected]

For meetings of local clubs and associations,go to claytonpioneer.com and click on Events.

Travis Credit Union is bank-ing that it’s new home in theClayton Station Shopping Center

will only improve its service tothe Clayton community.

“The new branch will have‘ample visibility’ and the samegreat service we believe mem-bers have come to expect,” says

Executive Vice President LilaDressen. Members “truly feellike our staff are family mem-bers and improve their financiallife.”

The credit union movedfrom the Clayton Valley Shop-ping Center to the former siteof Blockbuster Video inNovember.

Leading the charge isBranch Manager Brad Slaugh-ter. Slaughter has been withTravis Credit Union’s ClaytonBranch since June 2012. Heworked for a bank for nineyears prior to that. Slaughternoticed the bank often referredcustomers to credit unions foradditional opportunities withtheir money. He decided to findout why and found TravisCredit Union.

“I liked that the credit unionwas a part of the community,”Slaughter says. “Before, I saw

how much money was taken outof the community and not putback in. That was a drain on thecommunity, not a partnership.”

Slaughter has lived in Con-cord for the last five years withhis wife and two children.“Travis believes in a goodwork/life balance,” he says.“They want you to try and benear where you live and part ofthe community you represent.”

Slaughter was at the boothfor Travis Credit Union atOktoberfest. The credit unionalso reinvests in the Claytoncommunity by partnering withthe Clayton Business and Com-munity Association for the Artand Wine Festival and the Clas-sic Golf Tournament. TravisCredit Union previously helpedthe city sponsor Clayton Counts

Down, has year-round food bar-rels for Food Bank of ContraCosta and a Toys for Tots barrelat Christmas.

Travis Credit Union alsooffers scholarships and holdsfinancial literacy programs.Their Community InvolvementOfficer for Contra Costa Coun-ty, Eric Maldonado, says, “It’sanother way to let individualsknow Travis Credit Union isthere to help with their financialneeds, member or not.”

Slaughter and his staff of sixare eager to help the communityreach their monetary goals.

Membership at the ClaytonBranch of Travis Credit Unionis open to anyone who lives orworks in Contra Costa County.Slaughter says, “People do notknow you don’t have to be mili-

tary (from Travis Air ForceBase) to join.”

Travis Credit Union wasestablished in 1951. The not-for-profit cooperative financialinstitution is headquartered inVacaville and is the 12th largestcredit union in California. Sincemembers, not stockholders,own it, Travis Credit Union isable to return any profits afterreserves to members in theform of more branch locationsand better values on productsand services.

The Clayton Branch of TravisCredit Union is located at 5441Clayton Road. Hours are Mondaythrough Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Formore information, call 800-877-8328 or go to traviscu.org.

You don’t have to spend afortune on creams and potionsto get results. The following skincare products have received ravereviews from respected sourceslike Good Housekeeping andAllure magazines, plus they allcost less than $50.

Fine-Line Smoother:L’Oreal Paris Age PerfectHydra-Nutrition Golden BalmFace, Neck and Chest ($20,drugstores). This productearned high scores for moistur-izing as well as reducing finelines and wrinkles.

Great Hydrator: Olay TotalEffects Night Firming Cream($20, drugstores).

Best Night Cream: L’OrealParis Advanced RevitaLiftDeep-Set Wrinkle Repair NightCrème ($20, drugstores). Pro-

retinal-A-infused L’Oreal getshigh marks for firming and min-imizing forehead lines and wrin-kles.

Eye Cream: Olay Pro-XEye Restoration Complex ($42,drugstores). This cream reducescrow’s feet, puffiness and under-eye bags.

Anti-Aging Serum: BootsNo. 7 Protect & Perfect IntenseBeauty Serum ($23,Amazon.com or Target). ThisVitamin A- and E-enriched for-mula gets accolades for itstone-evening andskin-firming prop-erties. If you tryone new prod-uct this year,make it thisone.

Age-SpotFader: RocM u l t iC o r r e x i o nTone PerfectingT r e a t m e n t( $ 1 3 . 8 0 ,Amazon.com). Youcan wear this lotion alone orunder moisturizer. While itwon’t erase spots outright, it willlighten them.

Body Sunscreen: BananaBoat Ultra Defense SPF 50Lotion. Who would have

thought that this $10 productwould be preferred over hun-dreds of others for both pre-venting sunburn and resistingwater? Plus, it doesn’t have astrong fragrance and it doesn’tfeel oily or greasy.

And if you’re really pleasedwith the results these productsgive you, you can take a pictureof your face (or any other partof your body) and have it print-ed on a chocolate candy bar. Anew company called

Cocoagraph lets youchoose from a variety

of sizes, select yourflavor, mix-in

some driedstrawberries oralmonds, addan optionalwritten mes-sage, uploadany image and

a week lateryou receive

your personalizedcandy bar. Give one

to all your friends andmake them jealous of the new

beautiful you.Live long and pester!

[email protected]

Clayton residents since 1959

mazzeirealty.net

Matt Mazzei, Jr.Broker/Owner

DRE# 01881269

6160 Center St. Suite #C, Clayton

925-693-0757 (Main) � 925-693-0752 (Fax)

SOLD

2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1,439 sq. ft.

Rental:Clayton In-law unit 1 bedroom/1 bathapprox. 1,000 sq.ft.$1350/month. Utilities included.

Rula MasanntBroker Associate

DRE# 01923757

[email protected]

Diane and Bill HayesDRE#01222762

925-890-4701Dianemariehayes25@

yahoo.com

Mazzei Realty welcomes

Rula Masanntto their team

PENDING� 3230 Fraser Rd., Antioch $189,000

� 332 Colonial Way, Rio Vista $160,000

4 bedroom/

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� 5023 Keller Ridge Dr., Clayton

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� 389 Blue Oak Ln., Clayton

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3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, approx. 1,686 sq.ft.

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Sales Agents

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JUDITH MARSHALL

FASHION OVER 50

2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser Ltd.� Champagne body, “woody” side panels� Excellent condition� 2.4L, Turbo, automatic transmission, dual airbags,

Anti-theft alarm, bucket front seats� Low mileage – 71,700, Turbo replaced at 69,000� Est. mileage, 22 city/29 freeway

Call (925) 285-8612One owner, local mechanic reference $6,500

Get more bang for yourbeauty buck this year

Judith Marshall is the author of“Husbands May Come and Go butFriends are Forever.” Send commentsto [email protected].

New Year’s resolutions aregreat. They signal to us a time totry again. In the song “Try” byPink she sings about dreams,desires, even fears, of being lostthen found. She sings about thecatastrophes of life providing thefuel to fire us up, passion for usto make the difficult but neces-sary changes that will propel ustowards the fulfillment of ourlives. A new year can motivateeveryone to discover that mean-ing doesn’t lie in things, meaninglies in us. As we reevaluate our-selves, our values and attach-ments we discover less meaningin the meaningless. We strive touncover much more.

When you are thinking aboutthis year’s resolutions, rememberthat no matter what the illness oraddiction or distorted physicalexpression, its cause is in themind, and only there can it behealed. The places in our person-ality where we tend to deviatefrom self-love are not our faults

but our wounds. Consider these few things

while looking toward the newyear: dropping judgments, thegift of family, health and heal-ing, the need for love, the gift oflove, prayer, partners, learningfrom children, forgiveness, com-mitment, the future of our plan-et, miracle workers, mediation,releasing anger, happiness,romantic love, personal growth,generosity, healing, trusting, rolemodels, overcoming addictions,sustaining courage, relinquish-ing fear.

I train with people who takesteps daily to become aware andexpand their personal power. Mystudio mantra is “Practice makebetter, not perfect.” Achieve-ments come from knowing whowe are, finding your personalpower and using that personalpower to take action. Learningyourself or personal growth canbe painful, not unlike exercise. Itcan make you feel ashamed and

humiliated to face yourself, muchless your neighbor. The journey,however, is necessary and some-times painful but it is the key tobringing forth our more positiveexperiences in the world.

So, ready to make your newyear’s resolution? Whether it’sabout the mind, the body or spir-it, honor yourself. Don’t wasteyour precious time on makingsmall strides when you are capa-ble of much more. Know you’reworth it. Know what you canoffer others. Resolve to moveforward, to build and nurtureyourself to become your bestself. Good luck!

Ilima Heuerman holds multiple fit-ness certifications. She trains at LevityFitness studio in Clayton. Email Ilimaat [email protected]

ILIMA HEUERMAN

FIT WITH LEVITY

‘Try’ it Pink’s way andthink about you in 2013

PAMELA WIESENDANGER

Clayton Pioneer

New digs for popular credit union makes cents

TRAVIS CREDIT UNION’S CLAYTON BRANCH MANAGER, BRAD

SLAUGHTER, enters their new location where he says the branchis more visible and more accessible. It also offers a well-litnight depository and walk-up ATM in addition to accounts,loans, investments and business services.

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January is here, and its timeto get back outside and get gar-dening. This is going to be theyear that you resolve to doevery thing your landscapeneeds to be the best it can be.Each month there are chores todo, and January is no exception.

Deciduous fruit trees needto be sprayed to control fungusand insects, now and every cou-ple of weeks until flower budsbegin to swell. Spray yourpeaches, nectarines, plums,pears and apricots with

Monterey Copper Fungicidespray, or Serenade DiseaseControl if you would rather useproduct that is registeredorganic. Spray when it isn’t toowindy and there is no threat ofrain within 24 hours of applica-tion. These applications aremade to control leaf curl,blight, and mildew. Follow allthe product directions. If scalehas been a problem on yourfruit trees it too should besprayed now and every fewweeks to get control. Applyapplications Sevin, or Spinosadto the entire tree, including thetrunk. As always follow allpackage directions. Apple treegrowers that have sufferedfrom worms in their apples willhave to spray an insecticideonce your apple tree is in fullbloom, and the petals of your

flowers have begun to fall.Hanging Coddling Moth trapswill also help in insuring yourapples will be hole free.

Apply a layer of well-com-posted chicken manure aroundall your perennials, deciduousfruit trees, flowering shrubsand lawns. As we continue toget rain, the nutrients from thewell-composted chickenmanure will slowly be intro-duced into our soil.

Blue-colored hydrangeasshould have a hardy dose ofaluminum sulfate at this time.This will help keep your bluehydrangeas blue. If you growpinks, you should applydolomite lime to acidify thesoil, and keep your pinkspinker. Different products willsuggest various applicationrates to achieve desired results.

Read the packaging, or askquestions of nursery profes-sionals for guidance.

If you are interested inplanting some pops of color tobrighten the next weeks of win-ter, nurseries have floweringchoices for you to consider.The woodland-lookinganemone plants are in bloom.They are found in colors ofred, blue, lavender and bi-col-ors. This plant blooms in thewinter and rests in the summer.It makes a great addition tocontainers and garden beds.Buds are beginning toform on the evergreenplants called helle-bores. This is the typeof perennial thatappeals to the plantcollector. Daphneshrubs and harden-

bergia vines both have buds ontheir stems. The Daphne is verypicky in the landscape, anddoesn’t always work out thefirst time you install it, but oncehappy the fragrant flower isquite a reward. Hardenbergiavines have been a standard inClayton Valley gardens. Thisevergreen has lilacshaped purplef lowers,a n d

many refer to it as the lilac vine.Install in a partial sun locationand prepare for its success.

Nicole is the Garden Girl at R&MPool, Patio, Gifts and Garden. Contacther with questions or comments at [email protected] HACKETT

GARDEN GIRL

Winter help for spring and summer blooms

Broccoli rabe is a non-head-ing variety of broccoli that’s alsoknown as broccoletti di rape,brocoletto, rapini, choy sum orChinese flowering cabbage. Ithas long, thin, leafy stalkstopped with small florets thatlook like tiny broccoli florets.The florets or flowers are quitedelicate; the leaves slightly bit-ter. The flavor of broccoli rabehas been described as nutty,bitter and pungent.

This wonderfully versatile

veggie is really underused butloaded with lots of vitamins

and minerals. The dark color-ing means it’s full of antioxidants

like Vitamin C and heavy on thefiber content, which is good forlowering your cholesterol. Pickup some rabe and try it for your-self. It’s delicious when steamed,in stir-frying, and added to sal-ads and soups.

Choose firm, green, smallstems with compact heads.Like broccoli, the flower budsthat make up the floretsshould be tightly closed anddark green, not open or yel-low. Store broccoli rabe inyour refrigerator crisperunwashed, either wrapped in awet towel or in a plastic bag. It

will keep two or three days.For longer storage, blanch andfreeze.

EASY BROCCOLI RABE

WITH GARLIC AND

PARMESAN CHEESE

1 lb. broccoli rabe, trimmed5 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil1 clove garlic, minced1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan

cheese

Bring a large pot of saltedwater to a boil. Cut an X in thebottom of the stems of thebroccoli rabe and place in the

boiling water. Cook until ten-der but still firm, about 5 min-utes. Drain.

In a large heavy skillet overmedium heat, heat olive oil andsauté garlic for 1 to 2 minutes.Stir in the broccoli rabe andsauté 10 minutes, or untildesired doneness. Dust withparmesan cheese.

If you want to turn thisside dish into a full meal, tossin some cooked skinless chick-en breast pieces and somecooked whole-wheat Chinesenoodles.

DEBRA J. MORRIS

Pacific Coast Farmers Market

Broccoli’s versatile cousin spices up your table

Broccoli rabe

jan 11 clayton_pioneer_2013

Documents

clayton road whenhe

year parcel tax

building sohard

clayton mayor juliepierce

local agencieswill help

local hospitals

driver ofthe nova

crash causedmichael